Clouds Fell On Alabama

My experience of the April 27 tornado in Tuscaloosa.

The howling wind could be heard from miles away like a warning for all onlookers, “Get out of my way.” Sirens chimed, like church bells, throughout time that proclaimed a major event had happened. The air was so thick with moisture it felt as if you could carve your way through, like snow. Trees screamed, leaves fell, and bushes hugged the ground as wildlife fled from the incoming doom. It was a hard fought day for many, a scary battle of sorts, but for most it was hell on earth personified in a wall of blackened desolation. Even to this day I myself still cannot view images, or video, of the monster that crawled out from all of our nightmares. “Dreams, they are what happen in dreams”, most thought. That was the only place a beast like that could have risen. Alas, in a split second it did. We looked it square in the eyes, we took the punches, and we have the scars for the world to see.

“CRASH!!!!” A loud bang could be heard from miles. A large bright flash, so bright it penetrated my dreams came first. Then my heart started to beat out of my chest as I awoke to the sound of lightning piercing the air. The cracking of a tree crying as its large limbs fell to the ground was deafened by the explosion of sound from the thunder. My entire house shook, my entire… two storied… brick… house shook. I jumped out of bed and tried to turn the lights on in my room. Nothing happened. My mind raced with thoughts of mangled cars and houses. “Are my worst fears coming true?” I thought to myself. As I opened the door to my room a rush of hot air surged in like an invading army. I ran to wake up everyone as the storm intensified. Running downstairs I could already hear my mother trying to close the side door, but struggled because the changes in pressure were so great. After ten or fifteen minutes it passed by, wind, rain, hail and all. That was just the first line of storms; we were lucky. It was time to go back upstairs I heard my pillow yearning for my head. I closed my eyes and drifted back to peace.

Rays shined through the cracks of my bedroom window. They hit me in the face. Nature’s alarm clock I supposed. I awoke and thought to myself, “Was it all a dream? Or did I really wake earlier to what seemed like a thunderous applause from Thor himself?” I got cleaned up and walked downstairs to fix something to eat before I headed off to work. It’s about two o’clock, I had work at four, and I turned on the television to kill time before I left. “Everyone within the Cullman areas of Moulton, Double Springs, Addison and the city of Cullman need to be getting in a safe spot NOW!”, bellowed out the TV as James Spann was running around to warn the people of the tornado that was about to strike.

“Bring up the skycam in the area”, he proclaimed.

The tornado was visible on the radar, a well-defined hook-echo, and the live feed from the skycam showed it all. In real time, the large wedge tornado could be seen striking the cell tower first. Throwing it with ease, as a child would his broken toy.

“Anyone in downtown Cullman needs to be in a safe spot RIGHT NOW! The tornado is on top of you!”

I flipped franticly through the other news stations to see if they had any better coverage. I watched on as it tore through the city. I began to get anxious, but I had to go to work….

            I went out to my car and saw the thunderheads growing in the sky like a flower to the sun. The sinking feeling in my stomach dropped to my feet, it seemed, as anxiety started to take control. “I have to go to work. If anything happens to my manager and I am not there to help, I don’t know what I would do”, I thought to myself. “It’s just another Alabama thunderstorm. Those tornadoes are going too far north, it will not hit us.” A solemn calm fell over my body as I turned the key to start the car. I exited my drive and told myself “there is no going back now.” My phone rang right as I made my departure out of Eutaw. I looked. It was my friend and co-worker Cameron.

“Hello?”

“HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WEATHER?!”  He belted out with excitement and anxiousness. “Yea, I saw that Cullman tornado live. It was crazy, how does the radar look now?” I wondered.

“It is starting to get pretty bad. There is still a lot of purple on the map and James Spann has his suspenders off and sleeves rolled up. So you know it is about to get real bad. Ashley said you didn’t have to come into work if you do not feel comfortable about the weather.”  He explained to me. “No, I am already on the way now. I don’t want something bad to happen to her if she is alone at work. I’m coming up.” I told him. “I have a real bad feeling about this storm Cameron. The cows on the way to work are all huddled and bedded under a tree. They know something is coming.”

We finished up our conversation so I could focus on driving, for the wind began to pick up. I didn’t want to run off the road and get stuck in a worse situation then I was going to be in. I trudged on and pulled into work just as the clouds started to engulf Tuscaloosa, the feeling of gloom returned.

            The mall was abandoned. Not a customer in sight, just the venders and workers wearily wondering when the storms are going to hit. As soon as I walked into work my manager roared at me. “Close the gates now!” As I began to shut the gates I noticed the other stores are doing the same. I fastened them without a question, without a reason why, for I knew what was about to happen. We continued our work inside the store straightening walls, answering the phone, and just tried to act like it was another normal day. Then the lights fluttered off then on. My heart sank as I heard the thunder crash in above us. The sound was waves on the rocks of my soul. I walked outside the store to check the radar of the vendor down the wing. The line was very well defined and an announcement comes over the speakers, “Tuscaloosa city is under a tornado warning with a storm that could produce a strong tornado. Everyone needs to get into the tornado shelter.”

            I felt a buzzing in my pocket as my phone began to ring. It was my father. “If you are not in a safe place you need to get your a*s in one now. There is a very large tornado coming straight for you. I am watching it on TV now”, he told me with a quiver in his voice. I could tell he was fearful for my life, but did not want to show it. “Yes sir”, I answered as I ran back into the store. “THUD!!” The lights went out. “TORNADO COMING STRAIGHT FOR US”, I screamed out to my boss. Flashes of lightning could be seen from the skylight in the wing of the mall as thunder bellowed on like drums of an orchestra. We ran into the back of the store, into our system room, which ran right next to the tornado shelter for the mall. “Grab the babies”, we joked to one another to relieve fear (There was a mountain of games in the tiny room, one of which was a game that came with a stuffed baby). We sat and we waited. The room was eerily dark and indubitably quiet. At that moment the calm before the storm began to slip from my mind. Swooshing and swerving and cranking and turning, the winds resembled hell hounds on the hunt. The tornado growled with anger and tore anything that was in front of it apart, the sound was unforgettable.

            What seems like an eternity went by, with winds that snarled and hell that rained down. The tornado was like a hungry beast that mauled anyone or thing in front of it. Air conditioning units are being ripped from the top of the roof. “Just don’t rip off the ceiling”, I thought to myself so that I would not scare my manager. One minute went by, then two. “The storm is beginning to lessen”, I said quietly. But it was my ignorant bliss from the adrenaline that pumped through my veins. This monster was not done. It had not yet released its claws from the grip of our building. The tearing and destruction continued. Then finally, silence sweet silence, a welcomed voice in the mayhem that had just ensued. We walked out of the mall and marveled that it was still intact. I walked around the perimeter and passed light pole after light pole kissing the ground. I looked up with amazement as I saw the Holiday Inn sign crashed into the side of their building, rubble on the ground, but everyone inside safe. I pondered to myself, “We are lucky. The damage does not look that bad.” I continued to walk around the building towards what was left of the Regions Bank on the corner of 15^th street. When I got there… I could not unsee the destruction. Mangle businesses and people’s homes scattered the street. Metal jarred stuck up from piles of rubble as rescue workers had already made it to the scene. Sirens for miles to hear rang unstopping in the now sunny skies. I looked back down towards the hospital and saw the destruction continued for a while. “My friends live up there…I wonder if they are alright.”

Author's Note

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