Thousands without power; homes damaged, destroyed in wake of tornadoes

HUNTSVILLE — Thousands of residents across north Alabama woke up without power and some woke up to see damaged homes in the wake of tornadoes and severe storms that swept through the area Tuesday night.

Despite the damage, there haven’t been any reports of serious injuries.

Meanwhile, utility crews and staff from the National Weather Service will be canvassing the area to get a more thorough assessment of the damage.

In a social media post, the National Weather Service Huntsville office is asking the public’s help in its damage reports.

Around the region, the Arab Electric Cooperative, Sheffield Utilities, Florence Utilities, and Joe Wheeler Cooperative all reported outages during the night.

In Albertville, the city’s public library caught fire, possibly from a lightning strike.

The good news is Max, the library cat, was found and is safe.

“We are so grateful for our first responders who not only put out the fire, but got Max out as well,” the library posted on social media.

The extent of the damage was not immediately known but the library is canceling programs until further notice.

In Athens, more than 15,000 Athens Utilities customers were without power during the height of the storm. At 8:30 this morning, power had been restored to more than 11,000 customers.

Thoughout the city, poles were broken on Lucas Ferry Road and there was damage on Sanderfer Road between Jefferson Street and Hine Street.

Huntsville Utilities reported there were almost 3,679 still without service as of 11:40 a.m., down from a peak of 18,508.

There are 19 poles down, with three more damaged/leaning, and 40 lines down, four more hanging low, and 20 tree-related issues.

“Crews from Huntsville Utilities and Decatur Utilities, and Gridco contract crews, are in the field working to restore service,” Huntsville Utilities said. “Many of these outages are small clusters that will require the removal of downed trees which makes the process take longer.

“Due to the type of damage they are encountering (downed trees, broken utility poles, downed power lines, etc.), the process for some areas may be slower than others.”

Customers should not attempt to remove trees, limbs, or debris from power lines, the utility said. Report either of these issues (as well as outages) to 256-53-LIGHT (256-535-4448).”