Following a survey by the National Weather Service, a fourth tornado has been tied to severe storms that raced through Dallas County on Friday, April 15. The path was actually discovered while workers were observing damage from another tornado near Mulberry in Autauga County.

According to a report given to Dallas County Emergency Management Agency director Rhonda Abbott, the tornado was 13.4 miles long and classified as an EF-2 with a maximum wind of 130 miles per hour. The tornado’s maximum path width was 800 yards.

The report says “the tornado touched down in Dallas County near the intersection of County Roads 461 and 460. The tornado moved northeastward crossing the Alabama River and entered Autauga County.”

The tornado, Abbott said, left a path of destruction.

“There was an 18-wheeler toppled over and farm equipment torn apart like tinfoil,” she said. “That was the largest tornado we had.”

Fortunately, she said, none of the four tornadoes resulted in loss of life.

“We were so lucky to have had so many tornadoes and just one injury,” she said. “We had lots of trees damaged, but very minimal structure damage.”

Additional tornadoes were spotted at Paul M. Grist State Park, Marion Junction and in Beloit.

With more severe weather expected Wednesday, Dallas County Commissioner Larry Nickles, during the commission’s meeting Monday, encouraged residents to send their calls to the right recipients if there is damage.

“A lot of times when we have severe weather we have people calling us,” he said. “They should really be dialing 911. That will help us tremendously.”

The 911 calls, Nickles said, go directly to the source and will lead to faster action.

In addition to 911 calls, Abbott said residents should call her office at 874-2515, which is in direct contact with 911 to let her know of damage.

“I can’t go out to every road in Dallas County and look at it,” she said. “If I don’t know it’s there, I can’t do anything about it. If I know it’s there, I’m going to try to get out there. We try to get out as early as possible.”

At the same time, Abbott encouraged people to only call emergency lines if there is entrapment, fire or other emergencies to keep the lines from becoming tied up.