Seven years ago this week, a monster tornado outbreak swept across the southern U.S., causing extensive destruction and death. One of the most destructive tornadoes in history hit Alabama.
In the late afternoon of April 27, 2011, a destructive EF-4 wedge tornado swept through the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Ala. More than 1,500 people were injured and 64 died in this tornado. It went down in history as one of the worst tornadoes ever recorded to date.
It all started when a supercell formed a tornado in the late afternoon about 20 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa. The intensifying tornado, now an EF4 with winds estimated at 133 mph quickly approached the city of Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama. Unfortunately, there were numerous houses, apartment buildings, businesses and restaurants in the path of this monstrous tornado and they were immediately flattened. Thousands of trees were snapped, ripped from the ground, or stripped of leaves and bark. People in Birmingham reported debris falling from 20 miles away…