Remembering April 27, 2011

Ten years ago, today, I came minutes away from possibly losing my life. This is my story…

The craziness of April 27^th, 2011 started days in advance, for me, as multiple rounds of severe weather and flooding impacted areas from Arkansas to Kentucky. Many nights prior to 4/27, I stayed up watching the severe weather edge closer and closer to north Alabama (where my wife and I were living at the time). Storms generally reached our area in a weakened state, so the bigger impact for me was not getting as much sleep leading up to that Wednesday (April 27).

On Tuesday night (April 26), yet another round of storms developed to our west. This round looked like it had a little more potential to reach our area with at least some severe weather threat, but not until late that night or early Wednesday morning. I decided to at least stay up to see SPC’s initial Day 1 Outlook for 4/27, then my plan was to see what the storms were doing to the west to decide whether to stay up or to try to get some rest. Not surprisingly, north Alabama was put under the rare High Risk of severe weather. 

SPC's Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook for April 27, 2011

 

As best I can remember, this was the first time I was ever in an area that was outlooked in a high risk. Even at that late hour of night, the outlook triggered a little bit of an adrenaline rush as I pondered how the day would play out. As tough as it was to counteract that, I decided to force myself to lie down for a few hours knowing I would need the rest.

My "nap" didn't last long. Around 2:30am (yes, only 1 and a half hours of sleep), our weather radio went off. The first tornado watch of the day was issued as that round of storms, that I previously mentioned was developing to our west, began entering western Alabama. 

 

Since we still had an hour or two before they reached the Huntsville area (where we lived), I thought maybe I could lay back down for at least another 30 minutes or so. Right about that time, tornado warnings went up for a couple of counties to our west. I decided to get up and turn the TV on to watch the wall-to-wall coverage that I knew would start soon on the local TV stations. The line of storms continued to race eastward with a wind and tornado threat. As it approached I-65 (just west of our house), a tornado warning was issued for Madison County (where we lived). Much to my wife's dismay, I ran into our bedroom to wake her up around 5 am and we got in the center of our house. You could hear the wind howling outside, but no sounds of things breaking. The storm passed, we still had power, and things seemed to be ok.

After the storm passed, my wife tried to get a little more sleep before going into work. I was planning the same, but wanted to take one last look at the storms since they would likely hit the Chattanooga area shortly (where a lot of my extended family lives). Unfortunately, the line of storms was producing numerous, brief tornadoes and widespread wind damage. It appeared that the worst of the line was going to go right through the Chattanooga area. Realizing this, I called my family there to give them a heads up. My hope for a little more sleep was put on hold.

One of the hardest aspects of being a Meteorologist is the waiting. We give people a heads up, hope they take action, then patiently wait to hear how they fared. When you’re warning family, it takes the waiting to a whole other level. As I watched that line of storms move through Chattanooga, all I could do was wait, for what seemed like eternity….

About 30 minutes later, I finally got a call from one of my family members. She said the storm was crazy. She had no power and trees were down everywhere, including one that narrowly missed her house. Other houses in her neighborhood were not so lucky. There is a highway that runs a decent distance beyond her house, which normally can't be seen because of all the trees in her neighborhood. You can see it now. Eventually I heard from the rest of my family. Everyone was accounted for and alive!

Back in the Huntsville area, things had quieted down with just some light rain falling. By now, it was about mid-morning or so. My wife had already left for work, but I was staying home since I was off that day. One of the tricky parts of forecasting thunderstorms and severe weather is trying to figure out what, if any, impact one round of storms will have on the next. Sometimes one round can all but end the severe weather threat. Despite widespread storms that morning, this event was only just getting started, and would regularly prove not all events play by the "rules".

Around 9 am, more storms began developing to our west across Mississippi. These storms formed into yet another line and began marching towards Alabama for round two. 

 

As those storms approached our area, an isolated storm developed out ahead of the line (which usually means trouble). This storm had some rotation with it and strengthened some as it approached our house. And, again, tornado sirens started blaring. I began watching out my window to see the storm. As it approached, I began hearing an eerily loud sound that I hadn’t heard with other storms before. It made me nervous because I was wondering if I was hearing the sound of a tornado. I could see the rain shaft approaching and figured it could be a rain-wrapped tornado. Then it hit. Fortunately, that loud sound was NOT a tornado. It was hail…and LOTS of it! The hail was not that big (only about penny sized), but it was the loudest hailstorm I have ever experienced. Hail was raining down hard and fast. The hail was so loud, and there was so much of it, that it could be heard from far away as the storm approached. The storm left the ground covered in a broken layer of white.

That was storm number two at our house. Unfortunately, this was also the first, of many, mistakes I made that day (and one that could have cost me my life). If you’re under a tornado warning and you hear an ominous sound, don’t take your chances. Take shelter!! As interesting as it was to watch that hail storm, I NEVER should have waited that long to take shelter. If it weren’t for the morning storms, that storm might have had a better chance of producing a tornado. Shortly after that storm hit, the 2nd line of storms came through. 

 

More sirens blaring as a tornado warning was issued. From my garage, I watched as the storms approached. The sky to the west was dark and green so I figured it would at least have some hail. As I waited for the storms to arrive, I got a phone call from a cousin of mine who was very afraid of tornadoes. He said he and his family, south of Huntsville, were taking shelter and asked me what was going to happen. You could hear the fear in his voice. I told him to do exactly as his family said. Deep down, though, I knew I couldn't promise him that everything would be ok. That was one of the toughest phone calls I have ever taken. I almost broke down and cried. I fought back tears as I told him it would be ok.

Shortly after that call, the storms hit our area. Strong winds began hitting the house along with hail. The lights began flickering. At that point, I tried to close the garage door (I had it opened so I could watch the storms). But, as Murphy's Law would have it, the power went off before the door shut. I ran over and closed it manually then ran back into the house. The wind continued strong for a bit longer, then quit. With no power, I had to rely on the internet on my phone and the radio in my car. I listened as storm reports began coming in from the area, specifically the Madison and Harvest areas (suburbs of Huntsville). There were reports of trees and power lines down everywhere. Later, NWS surveys determined that some of this damage was from embedded tornadoes. I did a quick check on our house and determined that no damage had been done. But, now I was stuck in my house because my car was stuck in the garage with a door that I assumed I could not open manually. For those wondering, my cousin and his family survived the storm, although I didn't hear about them being safe until much later.

For the next couple of hours I continued to get updates from a friend of mine in the NWS (Matt), my phone, and the radio in my car. I listened as the first of many tornadic supercells began moving into Alabama (the “March of the Supercells” some have called it). 

 

Then I got a call that I will never forget. Matt called and said that there were reports of a 1/2 mile wide tornado on the ground near Phil Campbell, AL (SW of Huntsville). He said, "Roger, if that storm holds together, it will hit northwest Madison County within the hour." Oftentimes, tornadic storms will produce multiple tornadoes, but not necessarily one continuously. April 27^th was different. Conditions were such that any tornado that developed could be large, possibly violent, and long-tracked. Hearing Matt's report got me concerned. I told him my car was stuck in the garage and he said I should figure some way to get it open. The house we lived in was nice, but wasn’t a well-built, brick home, and most likely would not survive a direct hit from a tornado. Although, even well-built brick homes were not surviving tornadoes that day.

I knew I couldn't stay. I went through the house and began getting some important things (legal docs, medical history, etc.) and put them in my car. Around that time, Matt called again and said the tornado was holding together and was headed straight for Harvest (the suburb of Huntsville we lived in). About that time, my weather radio went off as the NWS Huntsville office issued the tornado warning for Madison County ahead of the approaching tornado. Eerily, though, all I heard after the warning tone was static (instead of the normal voice that comes on with the wording of the warning).

I ran to the garage and was finally able to get the door open manually. As I pulled out of the garage, I was struck with a fear I have not experienced before. The lightning was ridiculous and the sky was an eery green…AGAIN! The fear came from what I saw when I looked up. There were pieces of debris (mostly small pieces of wood, paper, and insulation) flying around in the air above me and landing in our yard. I knew the tornado had to be close. What I didn't know was just how close and just how big this tornado was.

 

I honestly thought I was too late. I kept trying, frantically, to call Matt, wanting to know what was going on. Keep in mind, the power never came back on at our house after the morning storms, so I didn't have all of my normal sources for weather information to keep up with what all was transpiring. All I had was the car radio (verbal descriptions don't always fully convey what others can see on TV), my phone, and Matt. Eventually, I even lost the ability to use my phone because the battery died and I had no way to charge it (I had no car charger at the time). 

Before my phone died, I finally got through to Matt and he told me that I may be too late. He said I should drive as fast as possible if I wanted to leave. I was in a bit of freak out mode at this point, but I decided to leave. I pulled out of my driveway and started going about 80 mph down the road headed east. 

 

As I was driving, small pieces of debris continued to fall from the sky and hit my car. This tipped Matt and I off to the fact that maybe I wasn’t out of the tornado’s path. I thought I was driving AWAY from the tornado, but little did I know I was driving towards it! I want to pause here for a little perspective. I don’t know how much time elapsed, but the tornado (an EF-3 at that time) did end up crossing the very road I was driving on. Because of the debris falling from the sky, and based on a little radar interrogation after-the-fact, I’m guessing it was a matter of minutes.

 

What was supposed to be an attempt to get OUT of the tornado’s path, became an attempt to outrun the tornado. I drove as fast as I could. Eventually, I saw an eerily, dark sky behind me and no more debris falling in front of me. I had made it, but I kept driving just to be safe. Then I hit traffic. It was around 5 pm and some people were getting off work early due to the storms. It was chaotic because none of the traffic lights worked due to the widespread wind damage and power outages from earlier in the day. Also, with all the rain from multiple rounds of storms, roads were beginning to flood. I could barely see because of the rain, so I pulled into a gas station south of the storm's path. At this time, I was briefly able to call my wife. I told her to stay at work and to NOT come home (if we even had one still).

Then, a second tornadic storm developed south of the one I had just outrun. This storm was headed straight for the gas station I was at. I quickly left the gas station and tried to get safely south. It was so hard to see…lightning was flashing everywhere and there was a lot of hail coming down. The hail sounded like it was at least golf ball sized. Crazy doesn't even describe the feeling. Once again, I pulled over, this time into a neighborhood. I tried calling Matt again. He said I was stuck and that he didn't know what I should do. The hail started getting worse and I knew this could be the hail core that often precedes a developing tornado. I figured I wouldn't survive in my car so I ran into the nearest house and began banging on the door…no answer. The lightning was getting worse. I was ready to just crouch down and ride it out on this porch. I was honestly afraid for my life (AGAIN). Then, I heard a noise…the door opened! This amazingly nice couple let me in and I spent the next hour with them in their bathroom as storm after storm moved through the area. You could hear the hail hitting the roof. I imagine the hail was a bit bigger than what hit our house earlier. Finally it calmed down.

Then we heard a new sound. A continuous stream of cops, ambulances, and fire trucks were headed north towards Harvest. Reports were coming in of people being trapped. I assumed I didn't have a house anymore. But, I wanted to get home to see. About 2 hours later, around 7pm, I finally got back to my neighborhood after driving through street after street of flooding and damage. Many roads were impassible. Much to my amazement, when I got to our street, I could see our house still standing! The way those storms were tracking, I really wasn’t sure I’d have much to come home to. We were so fortunate compared to other parts of our county and state. When I got home, the last of, I can't even remember how many, storms hit. More strong wind and hail, but no damage to the house. It was now around 8pm and I had not heard from my wife (she usually got off at 5). My goal now was to try to locate her. With all the impassible roads, I knew I couldn't drive around to find her. Cell phones were mostly useless as towers were damaged and the ones working were clogged with so many people trying to make calls. Little did I know, the call I made to her from the gas station around 4pm was the last time I would be able to call her directly that day.

At this point, I had been running on pure adrenaline. Remember, I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep the night before and I hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning (too many storms and no power). I was exhausted, my head hurt, and I wanted to hear from Jen. Then, I got a text. She said she was at a friend's house! What a relief. Still, I was determined to go be with her. I drove to her friend's house which was only a few miles away. However, that three mile drive took over an hour. I got to her friend's house, only to discover she wasn't there. As it turns out, we had the same idea in mind. I was trying to get to her and she was trying to get to me. When I tried to get back home, the roads had been closed and I couldn’t find a way back to our house. Now I had to find somewhere to spend the night. I was so tired, I knew I would just have to continue my quest to get home in the morning. So, I drove to another friend's house in Huntsville. I finally got word from my Mom that she had spoken with Jen and that she was safe! God was so good to let me know this before going to bed. 

I slept for a long time, then made the trek back home the next morning (April 28). There was devastation everywhere. Whole buildings and houses were severely damaged or simply gone, leaving only slab foundations in some cases. Trees were debarked and de-leaved, making it look like a bunch of toothpicks sticking out of the ground. It was a much different Harvest than I once knew. On my way back home, I passed a car that had been flipped over on the road the day before. Where that car was flipped over was on the same road I had been on the day before while trying to outrun the tornado. It hit me...that car could have been me. To this day, I still wonder what happened to the people in that car. I never found out...

Later that morning, I finally made it home and there was Jen!  We hugged for a while then shared stories from the day before. I ate again for the first time in about 24 hours. It was surreal being back with her and thinking through what we had just experienced. In the days after, we stayed at many people's houses and did a lot of grilling out. Power was out across all of Huntsville. The main transmission lines that carried power into the area had been taken down by the tornado that passed through Harvest. Power finally came back on a week later (the following Wednesday).

Harvest will never be the same...Alabama will never be the same...much of the Southeastern US will never be the same…I will never be the same. I now have an appreciation for severe weather that I never had prior to that event. As a Meteorologist, I thought I was prepared; I wasn't.

If you remember one thing about my story, let it be this. Please don’t take severe weather lightly. Learn from my mistakes. Have a severe weather plan. Have a backup plan for what to do if things like cell phones, garage doors, weather radios, or electricity don’t work. Every event doesn’t have to be as severe or as widespread as April 27^th. All it takes is one tornado to wreck your world. The extra preparation could save your life...

Remembering 4/27 (Part 2 - Lessons Learned)

When I look back on the April 27^th “Super Outbreak”, I am frustrated by my response prior to and during the event. In my last post, I shared my personal experience from that day. If you read my story, you may have picked up on some of the mistakes I made. Whether you picked up on them or not, I’d like to take the time to share where I went wrong in the hopes that others will not make the same mistakes I did…

As a Meteorologist, I am always telling people to take shelter, heed warnings, stay safe, and be prepared. But, what am I conveying to people if I don’t follow those very same calls to action? Many parents will often tell their kids, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’? As a Meteorologist (and a parent, for that matter), I want to turn that phrase around to say ‘Do as I say and do as I do’. It’s a challenge I’ve placed on myself and a challenge I present to any Meteorologist reading this. With that, here are a few lessons I learned from that event…

1. Prepare Early

Severe weather events are interesting because sometimes we (Meteorologists) have a good idea of an event days in advance, like in the case with 4/27. Other events, though, don’t always provide as much lead time. Because of this, I realize that not every event will provide as much time to prepare. My suggestion is do as much preparation as you can with the time you are given.

For starters, have a plan…and this can be something that you come up with even before any severe weather threatens. I have talked to my wife many times about what to do in the event of severe weather. But, one thing we didn’t talk about, unfortunately, was what to do if we couldn’t get ahold of each other. See, I would always call or text her to tell her about any ongoing severe weather. That day, though, there were times when neither texts nor phone calls would go through. During one of the worst parts of that day, as several tornadic storms were racing through the area, I couldn’t call her to tell her what to do which forced her to make some tough decisions with limited information. Come up with a plan that covers what to do during severe weather, including what to do if you can’t get ahold of other family members or friends.

Charge anything and everything…and keep things charged while you have power, if at all possible. It doesn’t take a big event to knock the power out and you never know how long it will take for power to come back on. It helps to plan for several days just to be safe. In this event, Huntsville was without power for nearly a week. I realize one week isn’t necessarily typical of all severe weather events, but it would be wise to at least plan for some sort of outage (short or long). My wife and I didn’t charge our phones or our laptops and once the power was out, all we had was whatever remained of our batteries. By the end of the day, my phone died and I had no way to recharge it. On that note, it really helps to have a phone charger. With many people having smart phones, you may be able to at least get some limited internet even if phone calls aren’t going through. I use Skype or Google to make phone calls sometimes if need be.

On the note of power outages, consider what you will do for meals if you and much of the surrounding area is without power. If you have a grill outside, make sure you have what you need to use it. If you don’t, plan for what you will do to make meals. We did not plan for meals and had to make do with limited resources to make meals. And, remember, the food in your fridge may not last long in a longer outage. You might consider turning the temp settings in your fridge cooler just before the event just in case so that the inside can stay colder for the longest amount of time possible.

2. Don’t Assume Your Regular Sources of Info will be Available

All kinds of things went wrong that day regarding communication of warnings. With power out, tornado sirens, TVs, and weather radios didn’t always work. TVs and radios were still getting info out, but people were limited by battery-powered devices. Landlines and cell phones worked at times, but there were still issues. Landline phones that required power were of little use without electricity. Cell phone towers were clogged or, possibly in some cases, damaged, which made phone calls difficult and texts very slow. The point is, not everything worked that day and if your main source of weather info was down or spotty, you might have missed some important details.

My main go-to when I’m not at work is the internet. When the power went out, I began using the internet on my phone which caused my phone to lose battery quicker. Once the battery died, so did my internet capabilities. We have a weather radio which I use as well. That day, though, the alert tone would sound, but all you could hear was static when the actual text of the warning was supposed to be played (ie. telling where the storm was and where it was headed). Fortunately, radio towers in our area worked and I was able to listen to live coverage from the radio in my car. Even there, though, you need to be careful not to run the car battery down. Again, have backup ways to get info and don’t assume that no information means nothing bad is going on. Backups to your backups are good.

Some of the preparation ideas may seem a bit overdone or perhaps you think it will take too much effort to do them. I still say it is better to be safe than sorry. We didn’t plan well and were sorry. If things go south in a hurry, I bet you will be glad you took that extra time and effort to prepare.

3. Fleeing a Tornado in Your Car is Generally a Bad Idea

My decision to flee the large Hackleburg tornado in my car before it hit Harvest brings up an interesting dilemma. In most cases, I would not recommend this course of action. And, looking back, I feel like it was not my best decision. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. But, here’s my thought on taking this course of action…

A RELIABLE source (a friend and fellow NWS employee), called me 30+ minutes before the storm was going to hit and said it looked like it was headed in the general direction of our house (a non-brick home that probably would not have survived a direct hit). I assumed that I would not survive a direct hit if I stayed, so I opted to hop in my car and get out of the path of the tornado.

Here’s what actually happened in my case. The tornado turned slightly and didn’t follow the exact path that my friend originally thought it would. Because of this, I was actually driving towards the tornado and not away from it. I can’t say for sure by how much it missed me, but the tornado crossed the road I was driving on within minutes of me passing in front of it. In fact, I later drove back down that road and saw a car that had been thrown into a brick wall (I never found out what actually happened to the driver). And, because of the heavy rain and all the surrounding trees, I was unable to actually see that I was headed towards the tornado and not away from it. Plus, driving 80+ mph down a small county road is probably not a good idea in any weather.

Looking back, I would have been just fine taking cover at my house. Granted, if the tornado had actually hit my house, then driving away would have looked like the better option. I would be lying if I said fleeing a tornado in your car is always a bad idea. But, before you make a decision like that, consider the following:

1.      Do you have a reliable source of info telling you it will hit your house and/or can you physically see the tornado coming at you? And by reliable, I don’t mean your Uncle Harold who happened to notice the possibility of tornadoes in the Farmer’s Almanac. Even if your source is reliable, that doesn’t guarantee perfectly accurate info. Tornadoes don’t always follow a perfect line.

2.      Roads used to flee the tornado could be slowed by traffic and/or blocked by flood waters or storm damage. This, in turn, could actually trap you in your car as the tornado bears down.

3.      Just because you are driving away from one tornado, doesn’t guarantee you won’t be in the path of another tornado. Or what if, like in my case, the tornado changes its path as you flee it? Even veteran storm chasers have sadly been caught off-guard by the erratic motion of tornadoes. In my case, a second tornadic storm developed south of the original one which meant I was now trying to outrun two tornadic storms. Not a good place to be…

4.      Do you even have enough time to get out the door, in your car, and out of your neighborhood? 15 to 20 minutes probably isn’t enough. In my case, 30 minutes was barely enough time.

5.      Once you hit the road, how do you know where to go? I had a radar-certified/trained NWS employee telling me where to go based on radar data. Looking at a radar image on your favorite weather app is not the same thing.

6.      If you live in a mobile home or a house that you don’t feel will survive the storm, are there any other options besides driving away? Maybe a neighbor with a storm shelter or a nearby community storm shelter? In fact, if you are lucky enough to be in an area with a community shelter, you might just consider heading there well in advance of the storms and staying there until the storms pass.

In my case, a series of unwise decisions regarding the decision to flee in my car could have cost me my life. Don’t let my fortunate survival story lead you to believe that it always works. I think in many, if not most, situations, trying to flee a tornado in your car is simply not a good idea.

4. Don’t Wait to See the Tornado Before Taking Cover

The first supercell to hit our house, that wasn’t associated with a MCS, had some rotation with it and, given the atmospheric conditions that day, certainly carried with it a tornado risk. As the storm bore down on Harvest, I could see in the distance a hail shaft and what could be a rain-wrapped tornado. Instead of taking cover, I whipped out the ole video camera. The sound of the storm approaching grew louder and louder (even more indication that a tornado could be forming). Still, I waited to take cover so that I could get that “all-important” footage. The storm hit and unloaded quite a bit of hail. Fortunately, it did not produce a tornado as it moved through. But, if it had, my story might have played out much differently.

I can’t lie…severe storms are quite the sight to see. But, getting that great footage or seeing that incredible sight is not worth the risk of not taking cover. Put your camera on a table or stand and let it roll, but don’t waste precious moments…take cover immediately!

5. Don’t Assume Roadways will be Passable

With so many storms and so many different areas hit that day, roadways in town were a nightmare to navigate. People were trying to get home to see if they even had a house left to get to, roads were flooded, and trees and other debris blocked large sections of roads. Plus, in our case, the sun was going down and everything was turning dark due to the widespread power outage. Have a plan ready in case you can’t get home. Your house might be fine, but if you can’t get to it, you’ll need a place to stay. Or, consider what you will do if you have kids or family members at home and you can’t drive home to get them and have no way to contact them (ie. due to phone outages, etc). Again, I realize some of these issues were due to the widespread nature of the damage and the event, but even smaller events can produce similar results. This sort of goes back to the ‘have a plan’ section, but just consider what you and/or your family will do if some, or all, cannot get back to the house.

In our case, we didn’t have a plan and instead, went driving around looking for each other. We should have established a meeting place or at least some plan for an alternate place to stay. Because we didn’t do that, I ended up trying to drive around to find my wife and was unable to get back to our house. We ended up spending the night in separate places and unable to see each other until the next day after some of the roads had been cleared. Now, even if you do have a meeting place, that location itself could be unreachable. These aren’t error-proof ideas, but at least some things to consider.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of lessons learned during this event. These are the lessons my family and I learned from our experience. There are thousands of other stories out there. Hopefully the lessons learned from their stories will be passed on as well. I’m honestly ashamed that I didn’t practice what I preached, but I have learned my lesson and will never approach severe storms the same way again.

Remembering 4/27 (Part 1 - My Personal Experience)

9/11 is a common household name across the country and even much of the world. Ask anyone about that day and there is a good chance most will have some memory from that day whether they were directly affected or not. Ask those same people about 4/27 and you aren’t guaranteed to get the same response…many may not even know what you are talking about. Ask anyone in the Southeast, though, and you will likely get many stories/memories. It’s hard to believe it has been this long, but five years ago many people from Mississippi to New York had their lives turned upside down…literally in some cases.

As we approach the five year anniversary of this widespread and damaging event, I thought I would make a few posts over the coming days, looking back at my experience as well as some things that stuck out to me from that event. For part 1, I would like to rehash the events of that day as it may help to explain my thoughts later this week. Some of you may have read or heard my story before, but for those who haven’t, I would guess that many similar or worse stories played out that day. NOTE: as you read my story, you may pick up on some mistakes that I made regarding preparation for the event and with some of my responses during the event. Later this week I will look at some of those mistakes and what I learned from them in the hope that others will make better choices than we did…

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April 27, 2011 Tornado Outbreak

My Personal Account

Wow, where to begin?? Well, honestly, the craziness of that event started days in advance. In the days prior to that Wednesday (April 27^th), I was watching severe weather and flooding hit areas from Arkansas to Kentucky day after day. Many nights that week (starting Sunday) I would stay up late talking with friends of mine from college (we all studied Meteorology) as we all watched the storms parade across the same areas causing a lot of damage. Some of these storms would edge closer and closer to Alabama each night, but they were mostly in a weakened state. I mention all this because with such an active weather pattern, I was not getting a lot of sleep at night leading up to that Wednesday.

So now we come to Tuesday night (April 26). Again, a lot of storms to our west, but nothing in Alabama. However, late in the evening a line of storms began developing well to our west that I figured would come through north Alabama in some form or fashion with a severe weather threat. Like a lot of my other weather friends, I stayed up until about 1am to see the Storm Prediction Center's (SPC’s) Day 1 Outlook. And, as I expected, north Alabama was put under the rare High Risk of severe weather. As hard as it was to go to sleep, I forced myself to lie down for a few hours knowing I would need the rest.

My "nap" didn't last long. Around 2:30am (yes, only 1.5 hours of sleep), my weather radio went off. The first tornado watch of the day was issued. The squall line was just entering western AL, so I thought maybe I could lay back down for at least another 30 minutes or so. Right about that time, tornado warnings went up for a couple of counties to our west. So, I decided to get up and turn the TV on to watch the wall to wall coverage that I knew would start soon. The squall line continued to race eastward and areas of rotation continued to be seen in the line. As it approached I-65, a tornado warning was issued for Madison County. Much to my wife's dismay, I ran into our bedroom to wake her up around 5am and we got in the center of our house. You could hear the wind howling outside, but no sounds of things breaking. The storm passed, we still had power, and things seemed to be ok. Jen (my wife) went back to sleep.

As I got back on my computer, I saw something that I haven't seen many times before. A meso-low/vortex had developed south of here and was plowing through counties to our south causing a lot of damage. I watched as this "tornado-cane" continued to spin northeast towards Chattanooga (where a lot of my family lives). When I realized it would hit them dead on, I called to get them into their basements. I had to watch the radar for what seemed like eternity as I anxiously awaited to hear from them. Maybe 30 minutes later, I finally got a call from one of my aunts. She said the storm was crazy. She had no power and trees were down everywhere, including one that narrowly missed her house. Other houses in her neighborhood were not so lucky. There is a highway that runs a decent distance beyond her house. You normally can't see the highway because of all the trees in her neighborhood. You can see it now. But, all my family was accounted for and alive! Whew.
Back here in Harvest, things had quieted down with just some light rain falling for a couple of hours after the squall line passed. After talking with a friend of mine (Matt) who also works for the National Weather Service (NWS), we thought the rain MAY keep the atmosphere stable over north Alabama. As it turns out, it didn't. Shortly after talking with Matt, the sun came out and things began to warm up. Not to mention, there was an 80kt LLJ (Low-Level Jet) developing across Alabama that continued to advect warm, moist, and unstable air back into the area and it was making me nervous.

Later that morning, around 9am, more storms began developing to our west across MS. These storms formed into a line and began marching towards AL for round two. At the same time, an isolated storm developed out ahead of the line (which usually means trouble). This storm had some rotation with it and it strengthened some as it moved towards Madison County. And, again, tornado sirens started blaring. I began watching out my window to see the storm. As it approached, I began hearing a loud sound that I originally thought was a possible tornado or at least some high winds. I could see the rain shaft approaching and figured it could be a rain-wrapped tornado. Then it hit. Fortunately, that loud sound was NOT a tornado. It was actually hail. The hail was not that big (only about 0.75"), but it was the loudest hailstorm I have ever experienced. Hail was raining down hard and fast. The hail was so loud that it could be heard from far away as the storm approached (the loud sound I heard). The ground was covered in a broken layer of white. Wow! That was storm two.

Then, around 10am, the 2nd squall line came through. Again, sirens blared as a tornado warning was issued. I was watching the storms approach from my garage with the door open. The sky to the west was dark and green so I figured it would at least have some hail. Then it hit. Strong winds over 50mph began hitting the house along with hail. The lights began flickering. At that point, I tried to close the garage door. But, as Murphy's Law would have it, the power went off before the door shut. So I ran over and closed it manually then ran back into the house. The wind continued strong for a bit longer, then quit. With no power, I had to rely on internet on my phone and radio in my car. I listened as storm reports began coming in from Madison County, specifically the Madison and Harvest areas. Reports of trees and power lines down everywhere. Later, NWS surveys determined that some of this damage was tornado-caused. I did a quick check on our house and determined that no damage had been done. But, now I was stuck in my house because my car was stuck in the garage with a door that I assumed I could not open manually.

For the next couple of hours I continued to get updates from Matt, my phone, and the radio in my car. I listened as the first of many tornadic supercells began moving into Alabama with Cullman County getting hit first. Then I got a call that I will never forget. Matt called and said that reports of a 1/2 mile wide tornado on the ground were coming in from near Phil Campbell, AL. Matt said, "Roger, if this storm holds together, it will hit northwest Madison County within the hour." Oftentimes, tornadic storms will produce multiple tornadoes, but not necessarily one continuously. However, I knew that today the conditions were such that any tornado that developed could be large, possibly violent, and long-track. When Matt told me this, I started getting concerned. I told him the car was stuck in the garage and he said I should figure some way to get it opened. See, I live in a wood house which would most likely not survive a direct hit from a tornado. I knew I couldn't stay. So, I went through the house and began getting some important things (legal docs, medical history, etc) and put them in my car. Around that time, Matt called again and said the tornado was holding together and was headed straight for Harvest. About this time, my weather radio went off as the NWS in Huntsville issued the tornado warning for Madison County ahead of the approaching tornado. Eerily, though, all I heard after the warning tone was static (instead of the normal voice that comes on with the wording of the warning).

I ran to the garage and was finally able to get the door open manually. As I pulled out of the garage, I was struck with a fear I have not experienced before. The lightning was ridiculous and the sky was an eery green, AGAIN. But, the fear came from what I saw when I looked up. There were pieced of debris (mostly small) flying around in the air above me and landing in our yard. Not any huge pieces, but small pieces of wood, paper, insulation, etc. I knew that the tornado had to be close. I honestly thought I was too late. I kept trying to call Matt frantically wanting to know what was going on. Keep in mind, the power never came back on at the house, so I didn't have all of my normal sources for weather information that I use to follow storms. All I had was the car radio and Matt. And, I couldn't use the internet on my phone because my battery was dying (I had no car charger at the time). 

I finally got through and he told me that I may be too late. He said I should drive as fast as possible if I wanted to leave. I was in a bit of freak out mode at this point. So, I pulled out of my driveway, and started going about 80 mph down Harvest road headed east. I thought I was driving AWAY from the tornado, but little did I know I was driving towards it! As I was driving, small pieces of debris continued to hit my car as it fell from the sky. Then I hit traffic on Jordan Lane. It was around 4pm and some people were getting off work early due to the storms. It was chaotic because none of the traffic lights worked due to the previous power outage. Also, with all the rain we had, roads were beginning to flood. I could barely see because of the rain, so I pulled into a gas station south of the storm's path near the Jordan Lane / Research Park intersection. I was able to call Jen real quick. I told her to stay at work and to NOT come home (if we even had one still).

Then, a second tornadic storm developed south of the original one. This storm was headed straight for the gas station I was at. So, I tried to get away from that storm. It was so hard to see…lightning was flashing everywhere and there was a lot of hail coming down.. The hail sounded like it was at least golf ball sized. Crazy doesn't even describe the feeling. I pulled into a neighborhood and tried calling Matt again. He said I was stuck and that he didn't know what I should do. The hail started getting worse and I knew this could be the hail core that often proceeds or is near a developing tornado. I figured I wouldn't survive in my car so I ran into the nearest house and began banging on the door. No answer…lightning getting worse. I was ready to just crouch down and ride it out on this porch. I was honestly afraid for my life (AGAIN). Then, I heard a noise, the door opened! This amazingly nice, young couple let me in and we spent the next hour together in their bathroom as storm after storm trained over the area. You could hear the hail hitting the roof. I imagine the hail was a bit bigger than what hit our house earlier. Then it calmed down finally.

Then we heard a new sound. A continuous stream of cops, ambulances, and fire trucks were headed north on Jordan Lane towards Harvest. Reports of people being trapped were coming in. I assumed I didn't have a house anymore. But, I wanted to get home to see. About 2 hours later, around 7pm, I finally got back to my neighborhood after driving through street after street of flooding and damage. Many roads were impassible. Much to my amazement, when I got to our street, I could see our house still standing! Wow. We were so fortunate compared to other parts of our county and state. When I got home, the last of, I can't even remember how many, storms hit. More strong wind and hail, but no damage to the house. It was now around 8pm and I had not heard from Jen (she usually gets off at 5). My goal now was to try to locate her. With all the impassible roads, I knew I couldn't drive around to find her. Cell phones were mostly useless as towers were damaged and the ones working were clogged with so many people trying to make calls. Little did I know, the call I made to her from the gas station around 4pm was the last time I would be able to call her that day.

At this point, I had been running on pure adrenaline. I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep the night before and I hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning (too many storms and no power). I was exhausted, my head hurt, and I wanted to hear from Jen. Then, I got a text. She said she was at a friend's house! Relief. So, good decision or not, I was determined to go be with her. I drove to her friend's house which was only a few miles away. However, that three mile drive took over an hour. I got to her friend's house, only to discover she wasn't there. When I tried to get back home, the roads had been closed. Now I had to find somewhere to spend the night. I was so tired, I knew I would just have to continue my search for Jen in the morning. So, I drove to another friend's house in Huntsville. I finally got word from my Mom that she had spoken with Jen and that she was safe! God was so good to let me know this before going to bed. 

I slept for a long time, then made the trek back home the next morning (April 28). There was devastation everywhere. Whole buildings and houses were severely damaged or gone altogether. It was a much different Harvest than I once knew. I finally made it home and there was Jen!  We hugged for a while then shared stories from the day before. And, I ate again for the first time in 24 hours. In the days after, we stayed at many people's houses and did a lot of grilling out. Power was out across all of Huntsville. The main transmission lines that carried power into the area had been taken down by the tornado that passed through Harvest. Power finally came back on a week later (the following Wednesday). Harvest will never be the same...Alabama will never be the same...much of the Southeastern US will never be the same…I will never be the same. I now have an even greater appreciation for severe weather. As a Meteorologist, I thought I was prepared; I wasn't. Next time, I will be even better prepared.

I have to thank a few people. First, God. God, thank you for protecting me and Jen and our house! Thanks to all those who housed us that week (you know who you are). I’m so thankful for Matt keeping an eye out for Jen and I and for keeping us updated during the event! Thanks, too, to all of the EMA, media, and NWS folks who spent tireless hours working hard to warn, protect, and serve the people of north Alabama. Thanks everyone else who called and checked on us during the event and thanks for the prayers.

A few of my pictures from the event below:

A look at one of the early supercells that came through (this is the one that only had hail with it). Small cell, but it had a well-defined structure to it. Notice the hail shaft off to the right of the picture. There was so much hail falling, I could already begin to hear the hail as I took the picture.

 A short video I took as the hail storm moved through (I would adjust your volume down before hitting play...)

This is the NWS Huntsville's path map of the Hackleburg to Harvest tornado that passed about 4 miles south of our house (I added annotations of where our house was at the time)

No damage at our house, but it was quite a different story a few miles to our south where the tornado moved through.

Amazing how these brick walls were just folded over like this.

Then came the slabs. Many more slabs in this area than I expected (ie. slab only, because the houses were completely ripped off).

A look at the Piggly Wiggly in town where we shopped some. 17 people were trapped in the back of the store, but were later rescued

Here is a look at those transmission lines that bring power into the Huntsville area...they were twisted and dropped