A powerful tornado devastated areas of Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city, leaving at least one dead, nearly 30 injured, power failures, and extensive damage to residences, a church, and a hotel.
In Fultondale, a teenager died after being trapped in the basement of his home with his family, city police said.
“They were doing what they were supposed to be doing,” the Fultondale police chief said, according to CNN.
The family decided to take refuge in the basement after receiving the news of the dangerous tornado, but a tree fell on the house causing it to collapse and everyone was trapped. The young man died and several more were seriously injured.
In total, authorities reported that about 30 people were injured at Fultondale, at least 17 were taken to the emergency room and 11 were treated at the scene.
Power lines went down on Interstate 65 and that caused several accidents.
Reports indicate that a Hampton Inn in Fultondale, north of Birmingham, sustained significant damage. Even guests staying at the hotel escaped and sought refuge in a nearby restaurant when another storm hit.
Now that the sun is coming up, we’re getting a better look at the damage on Lykes Blvd in #Fultondale. Several homes destroyed or heavily damaged. One person seriously injured. @WVTM13 pic.twitter.com/sG2zfQAKun
— Sarah Killian (@SarahWVTM13) January 26, 2021
The Birmingham National Weather Service confirmed that “a large and extremely dangerous tornado was located over Chalkville, or near Trussville, moving east at 50 mph” overnight Monday.
The tornado originated from a line of storms between two major systems that have put more than 100 million people on winter weather alerts.
Tornado warnings and alerts have expired in parts of Alabama and Georgia. But now the same storm system is expected to dump snow in the northernmost states.
During the morning of this Tuesday, local authorities reported that an inspection of the damage will be carried out to determine the force of the tornado that hit Fultondale.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed that one person has died from the storm that hit Fultondale late last night. The fire chief says 17 people were taken to the hospital, 11 others were treated at the scene. @WVTM13 pic.twitter.com/aOLNCLpFb8
— Sarah Killian (@SarahWVTM13) January 26, 2021
City of Center Point, northeast of Birmingham, “significant damage” was also reported by the storm, according to the mayor said Bobby Scott to WBRC , an affiliate of CNN .
Intense gusts of wind ripped off half the roof of Hilldale Baptist Church and severely damaged the town’s recreation center.
The Agency for Emergency Management of the County of Jefferson urged people to stay away from the area while first responders try to reach the most damaged sites, according to CNN .
Now the storm system is expected to dump snow in other states, with the heaviest snowfall forecast for Iowa .
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
