Today marks the 13th anniversary of the start of the April 25-28, 2011 Super Outbreak

I remember looking at my weather radar app that day and seeing the EF5 on radar that hit Smithville, MS head on. It was so clear on radar a child could point out where it was.



^ That red SUV was picked up, tossed a half of a mile, hit and dented the water tower in town, bounced off the tower, and fell a quarter of a mile from the tower into the condition you see it. Luckily no one was a passenger for that ride. You can see the tower it hit in the background.



^dent in tower.

My sister and brother in law live in Moundville and they mostly all went North of them. I watched Spann on the live stream as it came into Tuscaloosa.

I called my sister (no pics) that morning and told her I had a very bad feeling. Her phone rang off the hook that Friday the 27th.

Wasn’t this when the mammoth EF5 tore through Tuscaloosa and just barely missed Bryant-Denny? If so, I remember that day vividly. My office had closed early so I was in my living room watching coverage of the monster tornado tearing though Tuscaloosa. One of my neighbors called me and told me to come outside. When I went out in the yard, you could see the clouds flying by overhead unusually low and really fast. You could see debris blowing along with it, mostly pieces of pink insulation. Bits of paper was coming down almost like a light snow. Later we found a phone bill in my driveway from a chicken farm close to Tuscaloosa. One of my neighbors found a small child’s shoe in her yard. And I live 95 miles northeast of Tuscaloosa!

I was living in north AL at the time. I've never been in a war zone, but I imagine it is somewhat similar to the evening of April 27. No power. Limited info. Knowing that people are dying somewhere near by. Sirens sounding over and over again. Bad times.

I've been in coastal home design/engineering/construction for 15 years. With all of the more stringent construction practices employed over the last 10 years, I would feel completely safe in one of our homes in the direct path of a CAT 3 storm IF you could assure me there was no chance of even a small tornado. You obviously cant, and for that reason alone, I would be out.