MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. – The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down in Marshall County Monday morning as storms moved through the area.
The weather service said a preliminary estimate of the damage indicated an Ef-1 tornado with wind speeds between 90-100 miles per hour.
Damage was reported on Highpoint Road between Guntersville and Albertville.
“I heard a noise and went to the window,” Neal Walker said. He lives on Highpoint Road, and the tornado stripped the brick off of one side of his home. “The brick, I was standing at the side of the house looking out the window, when the brick came off the walls,” he said.
“It didn’t last probably three or four minutes,” he added.
The storm moved through quickly, but did damage. Pieces of twisted metal littered his yard and were tangled up in power lines. The storm tore up roofing and knocked down trees across the area. It stripped limbs from trunks.
Marshall County deputies blocked roads for trees and downed power lines. In Guntersville, responders worked to clear the roads.
Police, fire officials, and medics staged at a shopping center on U.S. Highway 431 in case they were needed in Guntersville.
Three people were injured. Marshall County EMA Director Anita McBurnett said those injuries were not life threatening.
The storm knocked out power to a portion of Marshall County, which caused traffic signals on U.S. Highway 431 to go out. McBurnett encouraged drivers to avoid the area if possible, as well as the damage sites.
Back on Highpoint Road, help came in all shapes and forms. “We live in a good community,” Walker said, “Hundreds of people have been by this morning offering to help, with bulldozers, whatever we need.”
“This is all just stuff. The Lord saw fit to take care of us, and we’re thankful for that. Very thankful for that. None of us are hurt.”
by WHNT News 19 (2019, Apr 8)
