The scene was eerily similar to April 27, said Ann Fullerton, wife of Robert Fullerton, director of missions for Limestone Baptist Association.
When the Aug. 3–4 storms rolled through the Tennessee Valley, the number of toppled trees and resulting damage were about the same in some areas, she noted.
Trees fell on roofs, debris littered roadways and power was knocked out across Colbert, Limestone and Madison counties.
But this time, Alabama Baptist disaster relief teams did not have to triage their efforts across a devastated state and were able to get to work immediately.
“We have about a week’s worth of work to be done,” said Kyle Jeffreys, who is coordinating disaster relief efforts in the area. “We have mostly large trees that need to be removed.”
The chain saw teams on the ground immediately were from Limestone, Morgan and Madison Baptist associations. And at press time, other teams around the state had been put on alert in case more help was needed.
According to the National Weather Service, the storms, which began around 11:30 p.m. Aug. 3, carried large hail, heavy rain and 50-plus mph winds. The storms continued throughout the night and into the late morning hours of Aug. 4, initially leaving 25,000 homes without power.
Lightning from the storms created a fire that destroyed Athens Church of God, and winds flipped a small plane at Pryor Field Regional Airport in Decatur. A Tuscumbia woman died when a tree fell through her mobile home’s roof.
For more information on disaster relief efforts in the area, call the state disaster relief office at 1-800-264-1225 or visit www.sbdr.org. (TAB)
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