F4 tornado in Blount County, Alabama
Tornado November 24, 2001 · Blount County, Alabama
NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Blount County → Etowah County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.
The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.
The wider storm
The F4 tornado first touched down in the vicinity of the Mt. Carmel Church, south of US 231 on CR 29, where several trees were snapped off. The tornado tracked northeast and produced extensive F2-type damage to homes and trailer homes along Tidwell Road where several injuries occurred. All trees in the neighborhood were snapped mid-trunk. As the tornado crossed US 231, it completely destroyed a frame house with F4 magnitude damage. Large trees around the house were uprooted and snapped at mid-trunk. From there, the tornado continued moving northeast and produced it's worst, F4 magnitude damage, between Robbins Lake and Airport Road. Large trees were completely snapped off at ground level; two tandem-wheel dump trucks were overturned, and moved or rolled 30 yards; several storage containers filled with construction supplies and equipment were rolled up to 50 yards; a large bulldozer was moved 5 feet; a large pole-barn building was completely obliterated.The tornado continued northeast across Robbins Field, then across an unpopulated area, until it entered western Etowah County in the town of Altoona. One church was also destroyed. The tornado affected the south and east sections of Altoona. The tornado descended a steep hill and downed an entire stand of pine trees at mid-trunk. Several homes and trailer-homes were damaged or destroyed, including a well-constructed $250,000 home which was completely destroyed, the third occurrence of F4 magnitude damage. The tornado crossed SR 132, ascending a steep hill, and dissipated. At it's widest point, the tornado was approximately one-quarter mile wide. Debris was scattered several miles past the end of the tornado track. Beg: 33 55.619/86 25.749 End: 34 02.107/86 18.754
Began near Oneonta (33.9167, -86.4333).
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5273369. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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