Deadly Tornado Devastates Alabama Town Overnight

Two seconds.

Michael Holloway says that's what saved him during Monday night's deadly tornado in Fultondale, Alabama.

Holloway was reading a book in bed when he got an alert about the tornado on his phone. He rushed into the hallway to take shelter, just as the storm hit.

“All I can keep thinking about is two more seconds," Holloway told weather.com in an interview Tuesday. “If it had taken two more seconds for me to get out of my bedroom and into the hall, I wouldn’t be alive today."

The tornado ripped the roof off his home and left a tree on top of his truck in the driveway.

The storm killed a teenager and left dozens injured when it tore through the town north of Birmingham, Alabama, at about 10:40 p.m..

Multiple buildings, including a high school, a motel and dozens of homes, were severely damaged when the tornado struck Fultondale, Alabama, about 10:40 p.m. CST Monday night. Homes were reduced to piles of rubble.

The teen was trapped in the basement of his home where his family sought shelter as the storm roared overhead, Fultondale Police Chief D.P. Smith told AL.com. It looked as if a tree fell on the home, causing the house to collapse. Smith said some of the family members were seriously injured.

Jefferson County School Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin said the teenager was a 14-year-old ninth-grader.

Fire Chief Justin McKenzie said at a briefing at 10 a.m. Tuesday that 18 people were taken to hospitals with storm-related injuries. Altogether about 30 people were hurt, he said.

“There are still people trapped in their homes that we are trying to access at this time,” Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb told WIAT.

McKenzie said crews began searching about 7 a.m. in the hardest hit neighborhoods along Carson and Newcastle roads.

"We’re waiting on daylight so we can help get out there and see more of the damaged houses. We have several damaged business as well. The tornado came directly through the middle of our city,” he said.

At the briefing later, McKenzie said six people were rescued from their damaged homes.

The storm cut a path across Fultondale and continued into eastern Jefferson County. It toppled trees, smashed buildings and flipped cars and trucks.

“There are 45 homes in this community and all of them have some damage. ... Debris is everywhere,’' Dave Moerbe said. “We pulled one lady out of a back window because she couldn’t get out.”

Tony Leopard of Florida had just fallen asleep in Room 101 when the tornado ripped the roof off the Hampton Inn.

“I just got woken up from wind and debris hitting the bed,’' he told AL.com. “It came through the windows. There was no power, no anything.”

In images from the scene it looked as if the entire second floor of the motel was destroyed. Guests were taken by bus to another hotel.

Gonsoulin, the school superintendent, said Fultondale High School was so heavily damaged he doubts its 650 students can return to classrooms this year, the Associated Press reported.

“Every building on this campus had been touched,” Gonsoulin said.

He also said officials are trying to determine how many students may be homeless now because of the storm.

The tornado ripped the roof and two sides off the home of Tim and Patti Herring while they huddled in the bathtub.

“I could feel stuff falling down and hitting me, but we’re OK,” Tim Herring said.

Mayor Bobby Scott said his town of Center Point, about 7 miles northeast of Fultondale, also saw damage from the story. Among the damaged buildings, a Baptist church lost its steeple and part of its roof, Scott said.

Jefferson County Emergency Management officials said about a dozen schools in the county will remain closed Tuesday.

Those officials are urging everyone to stay out of the Fultondale area because of debris and traffic clogging roads.

Interstate 65 near Walker Chapel Road was closed because of downed power lines and debris, AP reported.

The National Weather Service says it will survey the damage to determine the tornado's strength.

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