F2 Tornado — Dekalb, Alabama

1997-04-22 · near Rainsville, Dekalb, Alabama

Wider weather episode

An F2 tornado tracked from southwest to northeast across the center of Rainsville. The tornado began at 3:53 pm CDT three miles southwest of Rainsville just south of the intersection of County Roads 92 and 72. The tornado moved northeastward directly through the downtown section of Rainsville at the intersection of State Highways 75 and 35. Damage was severe to a number of buildings including the Rainsville police and fire department station and a number of commercial buildings. The tornado continued northeast crossing Dilbeck and Marshall Roads before ending about two miles northeast of Rainsville on the east side of Marshall Road.The tornado severely damaged a large poultry raising facility and debris from the chicken houses was blown over half a mile further to the northeast. The tornado had dissipated by 4:01 pm CDT.At the Rainsville police station, eleven of 12 police cars were either damaged or destroyed and several of the city's fire trucks were damaged.Five of the 10 people injured were hospitalized according to emergency management officials. Damage assessment indicated that 63 homes and/or apartments were damaged or destroyed along with 34 businesses.The tornado path was five miles in length and about 220 yards wide at the widest.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.4700, -85.9000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5592710. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.