Alabama Got Raped Today

[s13drifter88]

So after the never ending tornado sirens, straight line winds, funnels here and there and the constant police and ambulance sirens I finally got off work to find my house dark (like every other house) and not going to be light for some time now. Went to go get gas for my generator and had to drive from my home in Huntsville, AL to Athens, AL just to get gas. Well everything is pretty much smashed to sh*t around here. It looks like a war zone the whole way there. After making the 30 min drive there I find myself in what seems to be a scene from War Of The Worlds. People from all over are flooding in and out like refugees during an evacuation. I wait about an hour, finally get to a pump and fill up my truck and gas cans for my generator, then wait another 20 min just to get out of the store. Well apparently while I was getting gas they closed down the highway (Highway 72) and pretty much every other road. What is normally a 30 min drive took me 2 1/2 hours snaking around thru the back country (mostly closed) roads. North Alabama is pitch black and it seriously looks like a bomb went off here. So much property just leveled, over 30 people killed and many still missing. WTF just happened?!?!?!

[sx moneypit]

We got hammered pretty hard up here too but not as bad as you got it .That was a huge tornado that went through Tuscaloosa.The biggest problem we have now is the flooding from all the rain.Hang in there!

[Speedy7_7]

I hope you and your's are all right. Sorry about the flooding, I have a feeling there will be more coming. 6 inches of snow fell in northern MN yesterday, If you are near the mississippi, you are going to see it when it all melts today.

[dre1507]

good luck guys. i just heard about it like 20 mins before i had to leave for school this morning. I hope my church family in tuscaloosa is fine.

Stay safe OP and sxmoneypit (suddenly forgot your name, sorry.)

[alms24sebring]

I know I've heard all the naders in the passed month down south. I saw all the pics and vids from that giant F4/F5 yesterday. Just yesterday there was a nader that cut across I95 around Quantico army base.(About 15 mins away from me). We never really get them up here. I didnt hear what size it was tho but no deaths and minimal damage.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81452085/

This one is NSFW language. She also needed to quit smokling cigs yesterday
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81444893/

[sbird1]

Just had a sudden downpour not 10 minutes ago. Seriously torrential rain. Good luck with the next couple days and stay safe!

[flohtingPoint]

That whole area is pants pooping region right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks there.

[allenms240]

Good luck to all of you.

[NASCARLANCE]

We just got our power back on. I was trying to make a post before every thing went CRAZY Wednesday. We had the worst weather that I have ever seen in my life. I'm in Al. and live between Birmingham and Jasper. We have a storm shelter that faces west. It is right next to the road that runs North and South in front of our house. On the other side of the road is a former 120+ acre hay field that they are now building a sub-division (only 7 scattered houses at this point), so we have a very good view when looking to the west.
We are in the shelter with no wind, rain or anything. We hear the tornado sirens and hear on our portable radio it says that a large tornado on the ground is coming right at us. The proper thing to do is to shut our shelter door and secure it for the possible hell that's coming our way, yeah right. I go outside and see a really dark funky, scary, demon looking cloud to the south-west moving in a North-Easterly direction. It was looking like something that you see in the movies, it was just a mean looking m-f-ing storm.
Fast forward 5 minutes: now everyone is outside watching this thing get closer and closer, but by this point it seems like it is going to be just to the west of us. This thing really was a tornado and it really was on the ground. We couldn't see the bottom 1/4 of it, but the part that was on the ground was about a 1/2 mile wide. We could see debris flying out from it every now and then, every time we saw stuff flying from it I thought about the people getting hurt or losing everything that they owned. We had this view for maybe 3 minutes and then the bottom 3/4 moved behind some trees.
I guess this same story and worse was played out all over the South-East the past couple of days. The last count I heard was 300+ deceased and counting.
I really feel bad for the ones who lost loved ones or anything else to these storms, they are all in my prayers.

Oh, that post that I was trying to make was to let everyone know that I was the grand prize winner and won a 2011 Nissan Juke SL AWD in the Juke studio collaborate. create. win. contest.

[nissangirl74]

There are 7 deaths in my hometown. They didn't get hit near as bad as Alabama but people in that area are not prepared for storms like this. Last I heard if was an eF3. It's a small town too, so it seems everyone knew somebody that was affected. Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone.

[Jesda]

I absolutely love this time of year and I'm angry that I'm missing it. Two buildings 500 ft from my mom's office were obliterated.

Loving storms is a regional thing.

[s13drifter88]

well im running my generator and many of the people in my neighborhood are coming over to charge their phones and things and theyve been using my comp to stay in touch with their families and things. I can run my 3500 watt generator at full load for about 24 hours on 3 gallons and I have 30 gal on reserve. We actually got so bored here at my house that we took the grill up on my roof with my shop lights and cooked out lol. 2 500 watt halogen lights really lit up the street

[alms24sebring]

Wow Nascarlance, that sounds like an amazing sight. I also didnt heatr about 300+, I heard 25 or so. Yikes.

Jesda I feel the same way. I love seeing massive Thunderstorms with torrential rain and lightning. Ive been through Hurricanes too in the Carolinas. There was a tornado, F1 maybe, that destroyed my Uncle's restaraunt during a Hurricane. It was less than a mile away and we never even knew it was there until the next morning. But, I have never actaully seen a tornado and I really want to. I saw the videos of that giant tornado and I wouldve crapped myself twice if I saw it coming for me. I guess its really exciting while watching it but as soon as it has its eyes on me, Im really scared and fending for my life.

I wish you all luck

[AZhitman]

Praying for everyone in the South right now... I'm from AL / MS and Bex is from TN, so we've got a definite attachment to the region.

You guys stay safe and look out for each other.

[s13drifter88]

Front yard


Back yard

[Bmore-coupe]

Back yard

It looks like you can see Falcor from the Neverending Story in your back yard.

Stay safe all of you down there. Best of luck to everyone.

[orangeNblue]

This was a crazy storm! We just started getting power back today.

[leesredgt]

I just got power back yesterday morning. I totally thought i was dead. Seeing a EF4 tornado two house down from me isnt anything i ever want to see again. Ill never forget it. I pray for everyone who got hit.

[RCA]

Any updates from NICO members?

[Ace2cool]

One of the John Deere stores my dad manages is completely toast. There's basically nothing left. Got taken out by a tornado that was a quarter mile wide at the base.

One of my mom's friends had a piece of a hospital from Mississippi in her front yard the day after the worst storms (And she lives in Huntsville, Alabama).

Good news is, I still have a house to come home to on leave. Most of my friends on Facebook are OK too, and I'm glad for that.

[RCA]

Wow, what do normal insurance policies in the south look like?
Do they cover tornadoes/hurricanes?

[alms24sebring]

I think In Florida and the Carolinas do not cover Hurricanes because they are so common. I assume they do still have regular home insurance to cover fallen trees, windows, etc, just not natural disaster insurance like tornados and floods from hurricanes. That's last I heard years ago tho, but it has good logic I guess. Not sure about tornado alley.

[s13drifter88]

i think in tornado alley you can get disaster insurance but its high as faqk

[orangeNblue]

Tornados are covered by your insurance. So is wind damage, rain damage, and electrical damage. I've had friends/family who have had to have things replaced in all these situations, but the weird thing is...if your roof was destroyed in the tornado, then your interior belongings are damaged by rain at a later date (as with the rain we're having today) then those are no covered. There was a guy at work who was complaining about that part of his policy yesterday at work.

But we had a guy who just moved into his house 11 days ago, had very severe damage to his house and his vehicles, but it is all going to be covered by his insurance, both home and auto.