Tornados!!! Again, And again 9/5/11

[BlackArcher101]

This video was taken from the University Mall parking lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohIV...eature=related

I still can't determine what side of the mall it was taken or direction, but that's awfully close to the hotel you mentioned.

edit: Looking at the video, it looks like it was shot from the SW corner of the lot (judging by the plane at 5:27). This means the tornado passed on the other side of the mall to the NE. I'm not going to judge how far to the NE though, as I don't want to know.

Hoping he's just busy cleaning up.

[KevanGuy]

I just came here to post that. I think the tornado came from the SW and moved NE just west of the mall and the hotel. I'm basing that on damage photos I've been looking at the last hour or so. That mall is about a block west of the hotel.

[KevanGuy]

This would be my guess:

[BlackArcher101]

Ya, looks close to what I thought. Could have been a lot worse if it hit either the hospital or mall.

[transplant99]

Sirens just went off here...very unusual.

Looks like it is SE of us right now.

[KevanGuy]

Yeah no kidding. Really close to taking out the UA campus too.

[KevanGuy]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Sirens just went off here...very unusual.

Looks like it is SE of us right now.

You're in Ashboro, right tranny?

edit: Asheville I mean.

[transplant99]

Yup....Asheville...they just dropped the warning, now just a watch until just after 3 EDT.

Hell of a way to get woken up!

[KevanGuy]

I bet. Looks like the cell is well east of you now - a pretty nasty one. Things should calm down now though.

[transplant99]

Weather channel here is calling this a "historic" tornado out break...over 130 of em in the last 24 hours? Unreal.

Lots dead in tuscaloosa....not good.

[transplant99]

Really looking bad for many folks as daylight starts to show the damage.

CNN has the death toll at 128...just in Alabama. really hope PIM is OK.

The death toll from a series of violent storms that swept across the South jumped to 159 after a statewide review by Alabama emergency management officials Thursday turned up 128 fatalities across the state, according to a governor's spokeswoman

At least one strong tornado swept through Tuscaloosa, Alabama, leaving dozens of roads impassable and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.
"It literally obliterated blocks and blocks of the city," Mayor Walter Maddox said, describing Tuscaloosa's infrastructure as "decimated."

That twister that hit Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was over a mile wide and stayed on the ground for over 200 miles. Simply unbelievable.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

This would be my guess:

not good.

Various reports from around the city indicate there is massive damage to 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard. Sports writer Aaron Suttles reports via Twitter that the CVS at 15th Street and MacFarland has been destroyed, among many other businesses and apartment buildings.

Other reports state complete devastation along 15h Street heading to MacFarland

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...110429732/1291

[dissentowner]

Hope PIM and anyone else down there is safe and sound. Unreal!

[nickerjones]

Yeah its crazy man!!! PIM hope your ok buddy! Having gone through this multiple times I can say it sucks... prayers go out to the families affected and displaced from the storms. Weird it seems like tornado alley has shifted this year. its been quite slow in Oklahoma ... knock on wood!

[burn_this_city]

I hope hes safe. That looks like utter devestation.

[transplant99]

Just doing some amateur sleuthing I have a bad feeling about PIM's hotel and what is left of it.

From a story in the Tuscaloosa times...

Businesses at the corner of McFarland Boulevard and 13th Street near DCH were destroyed by the tornado. Steak-Out, Big Lots, Full Moon Barbecue, Krispy Kreme and surrounding businesses were reduced to piles of rubble.

Looking at the google maps...thats about a block or two from the hotel

pictures of that road and whats left of it here...

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...news?p=2&tc=pg

[nickerjones]

Facebook status update from PIM is :" K* and i are ok. No power and will be in the dark for days. "

Removed his fiance's name but it looks like he is good just without power... Ill try to post his damage pics that he posted from FB

[krynski]

CBC says 200 dead, and gonna rise. On a positive note, seems like people are helping each other out.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...eath-toll.html

[Cheese]

hate to see stuff like this...horrible horrible destruction! I too hope PIM is ok.

[Displaced Flames fan]

That damage in Tuscaloosa reminds me of the Moore tornado Nicker. Same diagonal swath across the city and just massive and long lived.

Glad to hear PIM is ok. I won't complain about his college football snobbery ever again.