This week marks the 107th anniversary of the Moundville F4 tornado of 1904. The following data was compiled by the NWS Birmingham.
"The violent, killer tornado destroyed the entire business portion of Moundville, except for one store. The freight and passenger depot of the railroad, seven freight cars, a cotton ginnery, a livery stable, a grist mill, 21 negro cabins, the town hotel and 10 substantial homes were destroyed. Everything in the tornado's path was swept aside." -(Source: The Tuscaloosa News, February 25, 1968)
"At least 37 people were killed and around 150 people were injured by the tornado that moved through the Moundville area. The business section of Moundville, a small station on the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, was wiped out of existence on this day. Great giants of the forest were twisted, bent and broken. Fields were laid bare and houses, fences, and outbuildings were demolished. The Alabama Great Southern Railroad lost their water tank, depot and warehouse, with contents of 7 railroad cars, some of which were well ladened. Some of the victims were carried over 200 yards by the tornado. The store houses of R.L. Griffin, W.P. Fifer, A.D. Griffin, W.J. Wiggins & Sons, W.J. Dominick and J.H. Dominick were struck and leveled. The Griffin Hotel was flattened out. Two people were significantly injured by flying lumber missiles."-(Source: The Birmingham News, January 23, 1904)
Because of improved communication over the years and increased population, we now receive tornado reports and damage more readily. In addition, we've seen drastic improvements in how we detect and monitor severe weather conditions. One can only imagine what it must have been like not knowing a tornado was on the ground or even knowing conditions where favorable for a major tornado. Even today there is much we don't know and this event further proves that Alabama can experience severe weather during any time of the year.
Wes Wyatt
Fox 6 Meteorologist
RSS
Comments