Even a decade later, it seems hard to believe.
The tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011 cemented itself in the consciousness of every Alabamian who experienced it. Two waves of deadly storms battered the state over the course of one day, leaving broken cities, twisted wreckage and lost lives.
Looking at the statistics gives only the barest idea of what occurred. The deadly weather system was part of a three-day outbreak that was the worst of its kind in U.S. history. Alabama saw 62 tornadoes. Twenty-nine of them left storm tracks covering more than 690 miles.
In all, 240 people died and more than 2,000 people were injured. Storms ranged from momentary supercells that laid waste to trees and power lines, to mile-wide behemoths leaving paths of more than a hundred miles through several counties.
See all of AL.com’s April 27, 2011 anniversary coverage here.
One of the survivors, Kelly Dobbs, made it through the collapse of a Hackleburg pharmacy where she worked that day, summing up the fine line between devastation and survival.
“We dug out,” Dobbs said. “I don’t know how.”
Here is how the storms developed that day.
4:30 a.m.- Tornadoes begin crossing over from Mississippi and firing along a line stretching from Pickens County to Fayette County, causing damage to homes, power lines and felling trees.
6:14 a.m. - The damage reached Odenville in St. Clair County, where an EF-2 tornado damaged several homes, including multi-story brick structures. The tally would only mount as the sun rose.
5:17 a.m. - Tornadoes touched down from the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa to Lake Guntersville. A tornado ripped the steeple from a Marshall County church, destroyed chicken houses near Albertville, and damaged homes and trailers in more than five counties in northeast Alabama.
5:54 a.m. - An EF-2 tornado cut a swath of damages for almost eight miles in the Cahaba Heights area near U.S. 280 in Jefferson County, wrecking trees, homes and businesses, crossing Interstate 459 near Liberty Park. Storms laid waste to state parks at Guntersville and Buck’s Pocket, with an EF-2 tornado crossing the lake, toppling trees and destroying cabins, a chalet, a wing of the lodge, campers, cars and boats.
After three hours of peril, the first wave of storms begin dissipating around 7:30 a.m., with barns, homes and structures reporting damage as far east at DeKalb County. But weather forecasters were already warning of worse to come that afternoon. But even the interlude between the two waves produced damage.
11:20 a.m. - An EF-1 tornado touched down in Decatur Industrial Park, damaging roofs and leaving damage.
2:43 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado cut through the heart of downtown Cullman, damaging more than 800 homes and 94 businesses, altering the cityscape before continuing on into Morgan and Marshall counties.
3:05 p.m. - A wicked EF-5 tornado slammed into Hackleburg, destroying subdivisions, Hackleburg High School and the Wrangler Plant. It continued on, with wind speeds reaching 210 mph, leaving a trail of devastation in Phil Campbell and Tanner. Vehicles were tossed 200 yards. The storm travelled approximately 132 miles through six counties, killing 72 people and inflicting $1.2 billion in damage.
3:06 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado struck in Pickensville and Cordova, killing 10 people and destroying homes and vehicles along a 123-mile path. Now, the full fury of the outbreak was showing its muscle throughout the state.
4 p.m. - An EF-3 tornado touched down in Marion County, gaining strength west of Hamilton, killing six people and damaging scores of homes.
4:01 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado killed 11 people along a 28-mile path in Jackson and DeKalb counties, leveling Flat Rock and Shiloh before crossing over into Georgia.
4:43 p.m. - A large supercell beginning in Mississippi dropped an EF-4 tornado packing winds of up to 190 m.p.h. in Greene County. The storm cut an 80-mile path of destruction through the heart of Tuscaloosa, killing 44 people, including six University of Alabama students. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. The storm, at one point, was 1.5 miles wide.
Randy Robbins, a survivor of the Tuscaloosa storm, made it through, with the storm ripping his jeans, watch, glasses, and shirt from his body, leaving only his boxers, a silver cross necklace and his iPhone remaining in his right hand.
It continued on into Jefferson County, crossing Interstate 65, slamming into Pleasant Grove, Concord and McDonald Chapel in Jefferson County. In Pratt City the tornado destroyed the library, damaged a fire station, and wiped away homes in several neighborhoods, such as Smithfield Estates.
Clarence Davis, 73, was standing outside his house on Closhire Drive after debris was dumped in his yard. Then he saw the storm wall headed straight for him. “It was right in my face,” he said. Davis ran inside and sheltered with his family until the storm passed. Then they went outside to see home after home, destroyed.
The storm injured more than 1,000 people as it tracked through three counties.
5:30 p.m. - An EF-3 tornado began a 71-mile path through Greene, Hale and Bibb counties, killing seven and injures more than 50.
6:16 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado with multiple vortices ripped a 33-mile path of destruction through Fyffe, Rainsville and Sylvania, destroying businesses and the Rainsville Civic Center. Along the way, it stripped a school bus down to its chassis. The storm left more than 25 dead before crossing into Georgia.
“I don’t know what the crap came through here, but it was evil,” said Daniel Berry as he stood by the pile of debris that was once his home on Marshall Road. Along the same stretch, the bodies of a man and woman were blown almost 100 feet from their mobile home.
6:23 p.m. - The earlier supercell that devastated Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, ignited back into an EF-4 tornado. It touched down near Argo, and cleared at 72-mile path, rolling through Shoal Creek Valley in St. Clair County, packing winds of more than 180 mph and killing 22 people all the way to the Georgia line, obliterating homes along the way.
8:12 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado killed nine along a 44-mile path through Elmore, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties in the Lake Martin area.