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The Nov. 15, 1989 Huntsville, AL Airport Road F4 tornado (Great Video)
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:18 pm
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:18 pm
This tornado is arguably the best example of why you shouldn't drive when tornadic storms are forecast for your area. This tornado was part of a larger outbreak that produced forty confirmed tornadoes. The Huntsville tornado would be the only violent tornado of the outbreak.
It developed west of the city, strengthened to an F4, and hit Huntsville right at rush our. It resulted in 21 killed and injured 463. Many of those killed were in vehicles during rush hour traffic. They never knew the tornado was coming.
New video from Weatherbox that does a great job going into detail on the synoptic setup of the day, and other aspects that led to this tornado growing into a monster:
An older, two hour long video that documents the extensive search and rescue efforts immediately following the tornado
The second video is a great snapshot of what it was like during those days to respond to a catastrophic disaster in a densely populated area.
It developed west of the city, strengthened to an F4, and hit Huntsville right at rush our. It resulted in 21 killed and injured 463. Many of those killed were in vehicles during rush hour traffic. They never knew the tornado was coming.
New video from Weatherbox that does a great job going into detail on the synoptic setup of the day, and other aspects that led to this tornado growing into a monster:
An older, two hour long video that documents the extensive search and rescue efforts immediately following the tornado
The second video is a great snapshot of what it was like during those days to respond to a catastrophic disaster in a densely populated area.
10
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:24 pm to LegendInMyMind
That was a bad day and night.
I still lived there then. My oldest daughter was 3 weeks old.
I still lived there then. My oldest daughter was 3 weeks old.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:26 pm to LegendInMyMind
I lived off airport rd late 90s 10 years Sooner it could have been me.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:27 pm to auggie
Definitely one of the nightmare scenarios with a tornado. People trapped in cars, people trapped in collapsed buildings, and people trapped I'm cars in collapsed buildings. A lot of folks put in a hell of an effort to respond as quickly as they could. Ambulances from all over north AL were running back and forth to all the local hospitals.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:42 pm to LegendInMyMind
My ex’s father was behind the whitesburg church hovered behind an outside wall when that tornado hit.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 6:47 pm to LegendInMyMind
Lived in the shoals and would have been 8 years old. But I totally remember this on the news and what a bad catastrophe it was.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 7:03 pm to LegendInMyMind
Zierdt Strong
Posted on 6/1/24 at 9:37 pm to soccerfüt
quote:
Zierdt Strong
You live on Zierdt now?
We did Back then.
I was working at Wyle Laboratories.
This post was edited on 6/1/24 at 11:53 pm
Posted on 6/1/24 at 9:43 pm to LegendInMyMind
We drove through that area yesterday and were looking at structures and remembering that day and all the destruction.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 9:51 pm to LegendInMyMind
I was in 5th grade and lived in Madison at the time. We were all in the hallway with books on our heads while they were hitting south Huntsville. We had to stay at school until at least 5 that day because they weren't running busses and they wouldn’t let parents come pick up kids.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 10:00 pm to LegendInMyMind
I was a latchkey kid, got home in South HSV but was told to go stay with friends Grandma down the street. Mom got stuck on other side of town and couldn't get through the damage any direction to get home. Somehow got in touch with my grandparents, who came in from the South in Albertville to come stay with me that night. Mom got home sometime after midnight. It was all pretty crazy with no communication/power with all the phone lines and power lines down.
Still remember the poor kids that were trapped and killed at Jones Valley elementary in the gym.
Still remember the poor kids that were trapped and killed at Jones Valley elementary in the gym.
This post was edited on 6/1/24 at 10:10 pm
Posted on 6/1/24 at 10:12 pm to adamau
quote:
Still remember the poor kids that were trapped and killed at Jones Valley elementary in the gym.
I don't think anyone died at the school. They were trapped, but the teachers got everyone to the lowest floor and sheltered under a stairwell.
ETA: I looked it up to make sure, and no one died at the school, which was remarkable. It was an afterschool childcare program that was on the second floor. The teacher(s) moved all the kids to the first floor and they sheltered under the stairwell.
The second video I posted has aerial video of the damaged school that is even more devastating.
This post was edited on 6/1/24 at 10:21 pm
Posted on 6/1/24 at 10:26 pm to auggie
That was a hell of a cold front. The next day there were cars all over that froze up because they didn't have antifreeze in them yet.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:09 pm to LegendInMyMind
quote:
quote:
Still remember the poor kids that were trapped and killed at Jones Valley elementary in the gym.
I don't think anyone died at the school. They were trapped, but the teachers got everyone to the lowest floor and sheltered under a stairwell.
ETA: I looked it up to make sure, and no one died at the school, which was remarkable. It was an afterschool childcare program that was on the second floor. The teacher(s) moved all the kids to the first floor and they sheltered under the stairwell.
You are correct that no one died there and it was kids in an afterschool program. The tornado hit just after 4:35 PM.
Also, it was Whitesburg Elementary, not Jones Valley.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:11 pm to LegendInMyMind
shite... big miss remember on that one. .. knew it was after school program and gym collapsed... really thought there were 1 or 2 killed there. Glad to be wrong. It was such a crazy day and even moreso as a nine year old kid. Sure has been a long time since then.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:29 pm to adamau
That's an easy one to think the worst of. Just seeing that damage and having that visual in your mind all these years later can make you think the worst of it.
It is one of the good stories that came out of that tornado's aftermath. Those teacher's did everything right to give the kids the best shot of surviving, and it worked out, thankfully.
It is one of the good stories that came out of that tornado's aftermath. Those teacher's did everything right to give the kids the best shot of surviving, and it worked out, thankfully.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:34 pm to adamau
I was reading the wiki on the outbreak, and it said there was another school in New York hit by a tornado on the next day (same outbreak) and it killed 9. That was an F1 tornado, but it caused a block walk to collapse on the kids, killing 9 and injuring 18. The NWS found it was a tornado, but Fujita felt it was a down burst.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:46 pm to LegendInMyMind
I remember it well. Was driving towards Madison Cross Roads where I lived at the time listening to radio reports. Got crazy even that far out with a green sky and trees bending over touching the ground.
Posted on 6/2/24 at 7:31 am to LegendInMyMind
One of my class of 72 Grissom schoolmates was killed in that tornado - he was riding in a VW east on Airport Road and sucked out of the window - his body was found several hundred yards away - the driver managed to hang on to the steering wheel and avoided the same fate.
I walked the Airport Road area a couple of days later and took a VHS video - the most amazing segment is an automobile bent into a U shape with the front and rear wheels almost touching - the power it took to do that is hard to imagine.
I walked the Airport Road area a couple of days later and took a VHS video - the most amazing segment is an automobile bent into a U shape with the front and rear wheels almost touching - the power it took to do that is hard to imagine.
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