A tornado that hit Alabama on Monday night, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring more than two dozen people, was an EF-3 storm with peak winds of 240 km / h, the National Weather Service said.
The tornado hit Fultondale and Center Point, a suburb north of Birmingham, around 10:30 pm on Monday, when a series of storms swept through the central part of the state.
Elliott Hernandez, 14, who was found dead in the basement of a collapsed house in Fultondale, said the Jefferson County coroner.
There were about 30 wounded, officials said. The tornado passed through the middle of Fultondale, a city of about 9,000, said Fultondale fire chief Justin McKenzie.
The National Meteorological Service did storm research and Tuesday night ranked the tornado like an EF-3 with peak winds of around 150 mph. The intensity varied along the storm’s path, which was about 15 kilometers.
“It is devastating,” Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said of the damage in the hardest hit areas. “But we will get over it,” he added. “It will take a while.”
Fultondale suffered most of the damage, but a residential area in Center Point in the northeast has also been hit, said the town’s mayor.
The aerial video showed houses destroyed and collapsed, and structures with torn roofs. A hotel was badly damaged and partially collapsed.
A woman who was in a hotel in Fultondale that was severely damaged told the NBC affiliate WVTM that she was sleeping and that the storm looked like “a train”.
Jason Williams, his wife and two daughters escaped after their house collapsed and arrested them in the basement where they sought shelter.
“God had his powerful hand over us. That’s all I can say. God protected us last night, ”said Williams, who suffered a cut on his forehead and bruises on his legs, to the Associated Press.
The 14-year-old boy who died was in 9th grade, said Jefferson County Superintendent of Schools, Walter B. Gonsoulin Jr. the day.
The boy was in the basement with relatives when a tree fell on the house, officials said.
“They did what they were supposed to do,” said Knight, the county commissioner. The father was also injured, he said.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey promised any assistance needed. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin also said he spoke with the mayors of Fultondale and Center Point and offered help to the city.
“We all understand how the violent power of a tornado can change lives in a moment,” Woodfin tweeted.
The Tuscaloosa and Birmingham area was hit by a large EF-4 almost a decade ago, a tornado that also hit Fultondale.
The April 27, 2011 tornado killed 65 people in all and estimated maximum winds of 190 mph, according to the National Meteorological Service.
