After a whirlwind weekend of thunderstorms across the south, the National Weather Service office in Birmingham has confirmed that at least 17 tornadoes touched down in central Alabama, a number that could increase as teams continue to scout damaged areas.
As of Wednesday morning, three tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down in the River Region: an EF-0 tornado that reportedly hit near the Emerald Mountain area, an EF-1 that set down on Willow Springs Road in the Blue Ridge Valley area, and an EF1 in Wetumpka, according to the NWS.
Of the River Region, Elmore County was perhaps hit the hardest by the weekend storms with several trees falling by the wind, one of which fell on and damaged the Wetumpka Church of Christ.
On social media, Elmore County residents reported three tornadoes in the county, reports the NWS has now confirmed. The EF-0 rating means the winds were between 65 and 85 mph. The EF-1 was estimated to have winds of up to 90 mph.
The longest sustained tornado of the weekend in Alabama was in Troy where an EF-1 began on County Road 1107 north of Goshen before traveling more than 37 miles eastward on a path about 100 miles wide. During the trek, the tornado caused some slight damage to a grove of trees in south Troy and caused “significant damage” to a mobile home south of County Road 18, according to the NWS. Nobody in the mobile home was injured.
Seven tornadoes were also confirmed in Lee County on Saturday. Two hit just outside of Opelika near Shady Park and Robinson Creek with the prior causing mostly tree damage with wind speed peaking at around 90 mph. A third tornado touched down in Smiths Station (EF1), a fourth hit Haley Woods (EF0), and a fifth formed in Crawford (EF0), but further details for those aren’t yet available. Two more touched down in Auburn on Moore’s Mill Road and Longleaf Drive.
The other five tornadoes were in Macon, Tuscaloosa, Marengo, Bullock and St. Clair counties and none exceeded an EF-1 rating. Tornado activity wasn’t limited to Alabama, however, and neighboring states didn’t escape the wall of storms unscathed. A tornado in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, killed four people and damaged William Carey University on Saturday. In Georgia, a Sunday tornado killed at least 14 people and injured 23 more after the storm cell swept eastward out of Alabama. At least five tornadoes wreaked damage to homes, trees and power lines in Louisiana over the weekend, but no deaths or serious injuries have been reported.
Andrew J. Yawn , Montgomery Advertiser Published 2:15 p.m. CT Jan. 24, 2017 | Updated 8:11 a.m. CT Jan. 25, 2017
A large tree was destroyed by the Saturday morning storm on the Troy University campus in Troy, Ala. on Saturday January 21, 2017. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)
