About a week and a half before we had spent a Sunday clearing debris and trees from a neighborhood north of Greensboro AL. Then we were warned that Wednesday was ideal conditions for major tornado activity on a broad front. Schools were let out and we watched fast moving clouds come from the S.W. In the super cells you could see constant sheet lightining that increased as it got to eight and nine o'clock. Around six or so I was in Demopolis doing errands and checking up on our ice cream shop. I was in Radio Shack when I heard a tornado had been spotted 5 miles north and was heading towards Greensboro in my county called Hale. I phoned my wife and took off for home. We eventually had to go to our neighbors house to vacate our mobile home when someone later warned us of a tornado coming more from the south. In fact that tornado did not do much damage, but a number of our church people saw that funnel as it tracked across our area.
The tornado to the north that I had heard about in town hit a hamlet called Sawyerville and killed a number of people. Two of my fellow employees the next day gave us a report. A lot of our church brethren were volunteer firemen so they helped locate survivors and bodies between 6-12pm. If I have it right to tornadoes passed along nearly the same track because the rescue unit had to wait for the second tornado to pass. Not to mention this was five miles or less from the other week's two path tornado. Absolutely crazy. The next day they called for thirty volunteers to search for some more bodies. Our work crew returned to help even though we were nearly two hours from home. By the time we arrived it was done, so we focused on clearing a area for Red Cross, and help people clear their yards and drive ways,etc. Basically it was walking up the road house to house. Since Tuscaloosa happened at the same time thirty minutes to the north mainly the locals know about the Sawyerville tornado. Hard to keep track which all towns got hit. I think just in this one local tornado I heard say twenty three to thirty homes were heavily damaged to destroyed. A lot of places the trailer frames were wrapped around trees. Debris was spread across timber ground. Trees were snapped off about ten feet from the ground giving the area a clear cut look. Wreckage was everywhere. Cars were flung into the mauled timber,etc. Your eyes got tired of devastation. So many trees were down that it took rescuers three hours to reach the worst hit area about three or two miles from the main road. At least one man bled to death because there was simply no way out or in until the roads were clear. It rained a little but not as much as usual.
My wife's family was out from CA and feel like Alabama is quite a dangerous place to live.
The tornado to the north that I had heard about in town hit a hamlet called Sawyerville and killed a number of people. Two of my fellow employees the next day gave us a report. A lot of our church brethren were volunteer firemen so they helped locate survivors and bodies between 6-12pm. If I have it right to tornadoes passed along nearly the same track because the rescue unit had to wait for the second tornado to pass. Not to mention this was five miles or less from the other week's two path tornado. Absolutely crazy. The next day they called for thirty volunteers to search for some more bodies. Our work crew returned to help even though we were nearly two hours from home. By the time we arrived it was done, so we focused on clearing a area for Red Cross, and help people clear their yards and drive ways,etc. Basically it was walking up the road house to house. Since Tuscaloosa happened at the same time thirty minutes to the north mainly the locals know about the Sawyerville tornado. Hard to keep track which all towns got hit. I think just in this one local tornado I heard say twenty three to thirty homes were heavily damaged to destroyed. A lot of places the trailer frames were wrapped around trees. Debris was spread across timber ground. Trees were snapped off about ten feet from the ground giving the area a clear cut look. Wreckage was everywhere. Cars were flung into the mauled timber,etc. Your eyes got tired of devastation. So many trees were down that it took rescuers three hours to reach the worst hit area about three or two miles from the main road. At least one man bled to death because there was simply no way out or in until the roads were clear. It rained a little but not as much as usual.
My wife's family was out from CA and feel like Alabama is quite a dangerous place to live.
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