Alabama tornado adds to Christmas storm woes
Dozens homeless, at least 14 killed in outbreak of storms.
A BIRMINGHAM, ALA.— Christmastime wave of severe weather continued Friday as a tornado touched down in the southwest portion of Birmingham.
Witnesses spotted the funnel outside the city about 5 p.m. An hour later, the National-Weather Service confirmed that first responders were on the scene along Jefferson Avenue in a working-class neighborhood of Birmingham.
“Details are still sketchy,” said Jason Holmes, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The Alabama tornado is the latest development in an ongoing series of storms that has hammered the South during Christmas week.
Elsewhere in the region, dozens of people faced the holiday having lost their homes and possessions. But many said they just were thankful to see another Christmas.
Unseasonably warm weather helped spawn the deadly storms that killed at least 14 people and left dozens of families homeless on Christmas Eve.
Parts of Mississippi, where Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency, remained under a flood warning Friday. Weather forecasters from the NationalWeather Service said a strong storm crossing the central part of the state could produce hail and winds exceeding 40 mph. The storm was bringing with it the risk of falling trees, downed power lines and flash flooding, officials said.
But that didn’t stop some from spending their Christmas giving rather than receiving.
Nicholas Garbacz, disaster program manager for the American Red Cross of North Mississippi, said members of the Marine Corps brought donated toys to a center in Holly Springs, home of two of the seven people killed in the state, for children whose families were hit hard by the storms.
Dozens of children and their families showed up Friday morning to pick up a toy or other items they might need to recover from the storm, Garbacz said.
More severe weather was also in store for parts of Georgia and Tennessee. Residents were warned to brace for flash flooding and possible tornadoes. The flooding could be exacerbated by ground already saturated from recent storms, the National-Weather Service said.
There were also overnight reports of twisters in California’s Central Valley.
Six people were killed by the pre-Christmas storms in Tennessee, including three whose bodies were found in a car submerged in a creek, according to the Columbia Police Department. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said the victims were a 19-year-old woman and two 22-year-old men.
One person died in Arkansas, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.
As the rain continued to fall, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley on Friday issued an emergency declaration that covered any part of the state experiencing flash flooding. Officials in southeast Alabama were particularly concerned, because the Pea River was approaching record-levels near the town of Elba, which has a history of severe flooding.