NWS confirms Friday tornado

Published 12:19 am Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Trees in an area near Alabama Highway 22, south of Plantersville, show the after effects of a confirmed EF-1 tornado that ripped through the area Friday evening. -- Robert Hudson

Dallas County was hit Friday during the string of storms and tornados that crossed the state of Alabama, but was fortunate enough to come through without injuries or serious property damage.

The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado crossed through north Dallas County, hitting Paul M. Grist State Park and passing over Alabama Highway 22.

Rhonda Abbott, director of the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency, said there was some structural damage, but no injuries were reported.

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“We had two structures damaged,” Abbott said. “One was the office at Camp Grist, and it had minor damage. The second structure was a residential structure on (Alabama) Highway 22, and it also had minor damage. We had one automobile accident caused from the storm, but the driver was not injured and that also occurred on Highway 22 near Plantersville.”

Abbott said the tornado had maximum winds of 105 miles per hour, had a maximum width of 750 yards, and traveled 19.2 miles through northern Dallas County.

Abbot added the county was under warning from 9:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., and the EMA successfully ran emergency sirens and made calls alerting residents of the warning.

The tornado came form the direction of Perry County in the west and destroyed thousands of trees.

“It crossed Alabama Highway 219 north of County Road 6 in Perry County and then it moved into Dallas County … and in that area near County Road 282 … there were probably 1,000 plus trees snapped in that area,” Abbott said.

Other damage at Grist included two campers that were turned upside down and the pavilion was damaged, and also hundreds of trees.

Abbott said everyone is fortunate that the tornado was not closer to a highly populated area.

“Again, it was just tree damage, so we were very fortunate that the path took a wooded area as opposed to a residential area,” Abbott said.