"It just doesn't go away.". [4][6][7]. Historically, tornadoes are no strangers to persons in north Alabama, where Huntsville and Madison County are located. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 1.4K views, 19 likes, 0 loves, 5 comments, 21 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from WHNT News 19: 30 YEARS: On November 15, 1989, an F-4 tornado claimed the lives of 21 people in Huntsville. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - On November 15, 1989, an F-4 tornado carved an 18.5 mile path through south Huntsville and parts of eastern Madison County. Crews didn't find Hereford's body for a couple of days, Hastie said. The Birmingham Forecast Office followed with a Special Weather Statement at 10:50a.m. with the headline, "MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER THREAT POISED FOR ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA!". Microbursts "I was the first one there at the hospital," Marcus said. "It's like it was yesterday," she said. Hazardous Weather Outlook, Current Conditions Then, at 11 p.m., Webster went up and down Airport Road, surveying the damage. It was here that the tornado struck the Huntsville Police Academy, generating one of the first reports of the existence of the tornado. 1989 was an average year in terms of numbers of tornadoes and fatalities. Contact Us Regional Highs/Lows/Rainfall, Forecasts P.T. That afternoon, Webster and a Huntsville police officer established the first command post near the corner of South Parkway and Airport Road. Anyone listening to the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) or monitoring the commercial broadcast media should have been aware that November 15th was expected to be a severe weather day. Rescuers also were hampered by darkness and plunging temperatures as they picked through piles of rubble up to 14 feet deep. Other buildings, such as those in the White Oaks subdivision were damaged or destroyed. Beginning at 12:45 pm, WSO Huntsville issued warnings for the west part of its county warning area (see Figure 19) as an intense squall line moved into northwest Alabama. There were three tornadoes in Nevada including an F0 on June 7 and two F1 tornadoes on September 17 and October 14, (both in Clark County) which is an unusually high number for the state. Doctors at first thought they would have to amputate one leg, but she was able to keep it and learned to walk again. Then, it made a straight shot for one of the citys main thoroughfares, Airport Road, filled with businesses and people. Listed as F2 by Grazulis. Our Office It traveled through a valley in the vicinity of Dug Hill before moving up and over Chestnut Knob. We knew that it could be substantial and it was.. The lead teacher of the daycare program moved the children from the second floor of the school building into a small open area under the stairway on the first floor. Seventeen large chicken houses were destroyed at a poultry farm, killing 250,000 birds. The Birmingham Forecast Office followed with a Special Weather Statement at 10:50 am with the headline, "MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER THREAT POISED FOR ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA!". Twenty years ago, the television stations in town were unequipped with much of the latest weather technology. Tornado Database A variety of non-traumatic conditions also were encountered. Previsin de 7 Das The police received reports of scores of injuries, including some at an apartment complex where rescuers were blocked by fallen power lines. Huntsvillians who were here will never forget the dark memories of that day and those that followed. Tornado Levels School Wall in N.Y.; 7 Killed - Los Angeles Times If it did anything, it reinforced the fact, when we break into programming for tornado warnings, thats the reason were breaking in, just look at the damage from this storm 30 years ago, said Simpson. "It changed the way we did things." The victims. In total, this tornado killed an estimated 1,300 people making it the deadliest single tornado in world history.[11]. Businesses were destroyed, and three mobile homes were flattened. The events of that day resulted in 21 deaths and 463 injuries. Forecast Discussion Rivers and Lakes Power Lines 'Started Snapping', Heavy overhead power lines ''started snapping just like a circus performer would snap his whip,'' Mr. Carroll said. Links with spotter groups and emergency management and law enforcement officials worked well. Do you know what the state motto is for Alabama? All rights reserved (About Us). [2] The region was affected by the April 34, 1974, Super Outbreak and records show that Madison County has had 25 tornadoes from 1950 through October 1989. Huntsville Mayor Steve Hettinger said 14 deaths had been confirmed, with 305 people injured and about 500 displaced by the tornadoes, which struck while city streets filled with rush-hour traffic. Critical weather information was disseminated in a timely fashion over the NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and NWR and by many media outlets in Huntsville and adjacent areas providing the public with frequent weather updates on radio and "crawls" and live "cut-ins" on television. [10], The disaster received a tremendous amount of national and international media coverage at the time of the tragedy because most major news media outlets were at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, just ten miles away, to cover the awarding of the Sylvanus Thayer Award to former President Ronald Reagan, and accordingly were on site within minutes.[11]. I told them to get ready because there were going to be many more people. This tornado presented as a wedge. Around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 1989, a tornado touched down near Madkin Mountain on Redstone Arsenal, southwest of Huntsville. MeSH Do you know what the state motto is for Alabama? See more 20th anniversarymemoriesfrom people who survivedthe 1989 tornado. This action, first suggested by the school principal as she left for the day, saved the lives of the children. Fire Weather Dog and cat antibiotics are medications prescribed by a veterinarian that can help treat a bacterial infection. An F4 tornado tore through Huntsville killing 21 people and destroying a swath a quarter mile wide and several miles long.