EF4 Tornado — Dekalb, Alabama

2010-04-24 · near Rodentown, Dekalb, Alabama

Event narrative

A long track tornado began it's 16.6 mile path about a half mile west of Hendrixville. The tornado intensified and knocked several trees down and damaged a chicken farm about 2 miles east northeast of Hendrixville just west of Interstate 59. The tornado continued sporadically into the town of Collinsville where it knocked three trees down and lifted several canopies at a campground. The tornado intensified and became violent just northeast of Collinsville reaching EF-4 intensity with winds of 170 mph with a path width of 1/4 to 1/2 miles. This path impacted areas from Mount Vernon to Dog Town in extreme southeastern DeKalb County. The tornado destroyed several single wide manufactured homes along County Road 60, between County Roads 822 and 892. Numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted. The McNutt Memorial United Methodist Church and a two-story residence across the street were destroyed near the intersection of County Roads 80 and 55. Oak trees nearby were debarked as well. The tornado produced structural damage to residences along County Road 79 just west of Highway 176. The tornado lifted about 1.4 miles east southeast of Dog Town.

Wider weather episode

Four damaging tornadoes tore tracks through north central and northeast Alabama during the evening and overnight hours of the 24th. These tornadoes were part of a larger regional tornado outbreak across the lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. The tornadoes were associated with three separate long track supercell thunderstorms that thrived upon a very unstable and high shear environment. One of the longer track tornadoes tore through several successive communities with up to EF-3 strength in Marshall and DeKalb Counties, including the towns of Albertville, Geraldine and Pine Ridge, lifting just before reaching Fort Payne. A tornado from the same storm then touched down again in the Mentone area before crossing the Georgia state line. Another supercell produced yet another tornado southwest of Collinsville, tracking just a few miles south of the earlier damaging tornado. This tornado reached EF-4 strength when it completely leveled the McNutt United Methodist Church on County Road 55. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred with these particular tornadoes, but damages were severe.

In Marshall County, total costs from the tornado had exceeded $14 million, which included 1032 homes experiencing at least some damage, and 93 homes destroyed. In DeKalb County, damage losses were still being tallied. Debris removal costs alone have exceeded $3 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.2203, -85.9602)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 220277. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.