By Carrie Brown McWhorter
The Alabama Baptist
Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams are assisting in assessment and cleanup efforts today (Dec. 17) after tornadoes and strong storms passed through southwest and northwest Alabama on Dec. 16.
Storm damage was reported in several communities, but damage in northwest Alabama was deadly. A husband and wife were killed in Town Creek in Lawrence County and the couple’s 7-year-old son is fighting for his life at Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, according to a statement this morning by Lawrence County Sheriff Max Sanders.
Several other injuries were reported in Lawrence County, according to media reports.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) urged prayer for the families of those who lost loved ones.
Eddy Garner, associational missions director for Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association, said First Baptist Church, Colbert Heights, in Tuscumbia, received damage when a tree hit the awning of the church’s daycare center. Several big trees also were down in the church parking lot and surrounding area, including several that had fallen on houses. Two mobile homes were destroyed, but Garner said they were unoccupied during the storm.
Garner said Colbert Heights pastor Seth Hood and church members are out today helping people and working at the church and said the Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association disaster relief team will be working today and tomorrow in cleanup efforts.
Disaster relief volunteers from Muscle Shoals Baptist Association were planning to work in Town Creek on Dec. 17, with Morgan Baptist Association disaster relief prepared to back them up, according to Mark Wakefield, SBOM disaster relief and chaplaincy ministries strategist.
Officials at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville said the storm caused extensive damage to the day-use area and about half of the campground. Streets were closed in downtown Florence as city crews worked through the night to clean up storm debris, remove electrical lines and remove fallen trees from roadways.
In the southwestern part of the state the Marengo County community of Salt Well saw significant damage with as many as 12 homes hit by the storms. A mother and two children sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to Marengo County emergency management officials.
Wakefield said Bethel Baptist Association’s disaster relief team will be working in the Demopolis area today.
Meteorologist James Spann said one long-track supercell storm produced a number of tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama, with the most damage in Alabama occurring west of Demopolis and near Montevallo. A third death associated with the storm system was reported in Louisiana.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Birmingham said Tuesday it would be sending teams to Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton and Shelby counties to survey damage. The NWS office in Huntsville said it would be sending teams to Colbert, Lawrence and Madison counties to survey damage there.
The Alabama Baptist will update this story as needed.
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