Storms strike college, leave trail of damage across South
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – With violent weather plowing through the Southeast, the kitchen windows exploded at Richard Brasher’s home in eastern Alabama.
Using couch cushions for protection, Brasher hid in the bathtub with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren as the storm passed near Jacksonville State University. The roar was terrifying, Brasher said: “I thought we were gone.”
Officials suspected a tornado was to blame for the damage there. With electrical transformers exploding and trees crashing down all around, Brasher, 60, said it felt like wind “picked up and shook the whole house.”
“We were scared to death,” he said. The storm threatened millions of people across the Deep South, prompting tornado warnings Monday in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The area around Jacksonville State University was among the hardest hit and thousands of buildings and vehicles were battered by large hail after the night of violent weather.
Several shelters opened, schools were closed, trees and power lines were down Tuesday morning. Jacksonville State advised people to avoid traveling near campus. Most students were away for spring break.
Part of the roof was ripped off the nursing school and Pete Mathews Coliseum, a 3,500-seat basketball arena. Pieces of lumber and bent metal covered the ground along with insulation that looked like yellow cotton candy.
To the west in Cullman, the lots of automobile dealerships were full of cars and trucks that no longer had windows. The sheriff shared a photo of a county jail bombarded by hail but said the prisoners were fine.
Schools were closed in several counties because of damage. Alabama Power Co. said more than 9,000 homes and businesses were without electricity.
Forecasters had warned that the storms would threaten more than 29 million people, raising the risk of powerful tornadoes, damaging winds and hail the size of tennis balls.
The National Weather Service said five teams were out in Alabama assessing storm damage.