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00:07It was just one afternoon in April.
00:13They didn't wake up that day thinking this would be the last.
00:24This will be a day where there's going to be so many tornado warnings.
00:29It's something like I'd never seen before.
00:33We watched this monster form before our very eyes.
00:38These were killer tornadoes on the ground.
00:41And I thought, it's coming for us.
00:45It's coming for us.
00:49Stay sheltered. Get underground.
00:51These things were monstrous. Supercell storm.
00:55He was holding her hand, and she just went up and away from her.
01:02It's going to be one of those days where if people didn't take cover, they were going to die.
01:07Coming over the campus buildings.
01:08In April 2011, over just four days, more than 360 tornadoes ravaged the southern United States.
01:17Look at the debris. Look at the debris. And all you do is pray for those people.
01:20It's the deadliest tornado outbreak for 75 years.
01:29321 people are killed, and thousands are made homeless.
01:35Now, eyewitness accounts, survivors' footage, and expert scientific analysis reveal the terrible events of the Super Tornado outbreak.
02:08Just over 50 miles north of Birmingham, Alabama,
02:12is the small town of Cullman, and its population of 15,000.
02:22I'm Kitty Spears, the owner of the Busy Bee Cafe.
02:26I've been in business for myself here since 1989.
02:34The Busy Bee Cafe is run by family.
02:38All my family members work here.
02:41We're Cullman's oldest restaurant, and we're the backbone of this town.
02:50A hundred miles south of Cullman is Tuscaloosa,
02:54home to more than 38,000 students from the University of Alabama.
03:02My name's Toria Sheehan.
03:03In 2011, I was a student at the University of Alabama,
03:07and I was also an intern at WVUA, the local station in Tuscaloosa.
03:13So I lived in the eastern part of Tuscaloosa in Alberta.
03:18It was a two-story apartment complex made up mostly of students,
03:22but there were also people who weren't students at the university living there.
03:27It was my own little place.
03:30I mean, it was like a shoebox, basically, but it was mine, and I loved it.
03:38My name is James Spann, and my title is Chief Meteorologist for WBMA-TV in Birmingham.
03:45I'm an old-timer. I've been here a long time.
03:48Growing up in rural South Alabama,
03:50the storms on a summer afternoon were unbelievably awesome,
03:54where for everybody else, they were a nuisance,
03:56but for me, they were fascinating.
03:59But we have two tornado alleys.
04:02One is the traditional tornado alley.
04:05This is the southern Great Plain, states like Oklahoma and Kansas.
04:09But we have a secondary area in the southeast United States,
04:12Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Louisiana, North Georgia.
04:18And that has been dubbed as Dixie Alley.
04:24And it's Dixie Alley, with its denser populations
04:27and higher concentration of mobile homes
04:30that has the deadliest tornadoes each year.
04:35We have a lot of our population away from cities
04:38that live in manufactured housing.
04:40And simply by nature of the beast,
04:43air can get under them and go above them,
04:45and they can go airborne.
04:47For those that live in them,
04:48they have to be thinking about this way, way, way before a tornado.
04:53In early April 2011,
04:56unusually warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
04:59is moving north,
05:01while cold fronts head southeast from the Midwest and plain states.
05:05The two collide and are churned further
05:08by howling winds in the jet stream.
05:12It's a turbulent breeding ground for supercells,
05:16some of the most dangerous storms on Earth.
05:18They're capable of spawning the most violent of tornadoes.
05:28With the most powerful tornadoes being up to a mile wide,
05:32with spiraling winds of up to 250 miles an hour,
05:36alarm bells are ringing in the deep south.
05:41We don't like to cry wolf,
05:43but in the days leading up to April 27th,
05:46we started seeing strong thunderstorms
05:49that actually developed into supercell thunderstorms.
05:54Supercells are long-lived,
05:56and statistically,
05:58they're the type of storms that produce not just tornadoes,
06:01but typically the bigger tornadoes,
06:03the more violent tornadoes.
06:08A supercell forms when conflicting winds
06:11cause horizontal spin in the lower atmosphere.
06:15Warm updrafts then force it vertically
06:17to form a mesocyclone,
06:20the spinning heart of a supercell.
06:23It draws in more warm air,
06:26driving the rotation faster.
06:28Rapidly descending air at the rear of the storm
06:31can then drag the mesocyclone towards the ground.
06:35If it touches down,
06:37a tornado is born.
06:40Once we got within about five days,
06:42it became obvious that April 27th
06:44could be a problematic type day.
06:47We didn't know where tornadoes would touch down,
06:50how many tornadoes we're going to have,
06:52exactly what state maybe would take the brunt of this,
06:54but somebody in the Deep South
06:56was going to have a really bad day.
06:59Severe weather of possibility by midweek.
07:01Chance of supercell storms Wednesday afternoon.
07:06In the early hours of Wednesday, the 27th of April,
07:10the predicted storm system
07:12hits James Spann's home state of Alabama.
07:17Walking in here,
07:18I knew I had to get my microphone strapped on
07:20and get ready to go on television immediately.
07:23It was just a sense of urgency
07:25and a sense of,
07:27I hope we're not in over our heads.
07:32These storms are very serious,
07:34so let's kind of reset here.
07:36It's 5.40.
07:37A lot of you are just waking up now
07:38to the sirens going off.
07:47There were terrible thunderstorms that morning,
07:50even before the sun was up.
07:52And I remember just laying down and hearing,
07:57like right when you're about to wake up,
07:59but you're still not fully awake,
08:00and hearing the thunder.
08:07During the morning hours,
08:08seven states are hit by a massive storm system.
08:1392 tornadoes touched down,
08:15stretching from Louisiana
08:17all the way north to Ohio.
08:26That morning, April 27th,
08:29we were extremely busy
08:32because there were storms earlier that morning
08:35in the town next to us,
08:38and everybody was coming to Coleman
08:40because they had no power and everything.
08:45By 9 a.m.,
08:47the weather system across Mississippi and Alabama
08:50completely transforms.
08:53Looks like we might see several hours of sunshine this morning,
08:56and that in turn
08:58could lead to some really rough weather later today.
09:02When we saw the sun break out,
09:04thinking, oh goodness,
09:05that's the last thing you want.
09:07And that's really going to heat the air up
09:09and make the air buoyant
09:10and set the stage
09:11for some horrible storms later in the day.
09:14This is the time where you go to a safe place now.
09:16As low as you can go underground
09:17if you can get there,
09:18no mobile homes and no cars.
09:20Ignoring the warnings,
09:21storm chaser Reed Temer
09:23decides to head in the direction
09:25of one of the supercell storms
09:27near the town of Philadelphia in Mississippi.
09:31By afternoon,
09:32our target storm developed
09:33to the east of Jackson, Mississippi,
09:35and right when that storm developed,
09:37it assumed textbook supercell characteristics.
09:40And our plan was to find an open meadow
09:43that was directly in the path of that storm.
09:48Suddenly, the forest opened up,
09:51had a clear view to the southwest,
09:54and then bam!
10:04As the 2011 tornado super outbreak
10:08begins to intensify,
10:10a massive twister has just touched down
10:12in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
10:14Oh, my God, look at that horizontal abortices
10:16on the left side.
10:18Horizontal abortices feeding into it.
10:20Directly in its path
10:21is storm chaser Reed Temer.
10:24Oh, my God, on the left side!
10:25Look at the left side!
10:28It was approaching rapidly,
10:30and we saw the massive wedge.
10:33We knew it was powerful at that point.
10:35Very large tornado,
10:36very compact supercell structure as well.
10:39You could see the whole entire updraft
10:41and the rain shaft next to it.
10:42Rapid upward motion on the left side,
10:45horizontal vortices feeding into it,
10:47and you knew that we were dealing
10:48with a different monster.
10:51House is up there!
10:54House is!
10:55I was freaking out trying to let them know
10:57that there is a dangerous tornado
10:58heading for their location.
11:02Not good, guys!
11:04As it races along the ground,
11:08the half-a-mile-wide tornado
11:10suddenly becomes even more deadly
11:13as it mutates into a multiple vortex tornado
11:16made up of smaller vortices.
11:23One of them touched down
11:24right near that power pole.
11:27that dug a trench out of the ground
11:29over two feet deep.
11:32Everything in its path
11:33was ripped out of the ground.
11:38Go, go, go, go!
11:41Philadelphia's multiple vortex tornado
11:43with rotational winds
11:45of up to 205 miles per hour
11:47is given the most powerful rating
11:50on the enhanced Fujita scale,
11:52EF5.
11:53Oh, my God!
11:54It's the first EF5
11:56in the Dixie Alley tornado region
11:59for more than a decade.
12:00Go that way!
12:02Get the eye on it!
12:03With tornadoes on average
12:05killing 80 people every year in the U.S.,
12:08atmospheric scientists
12:09from the University of Wisconsin
12:11are leading the drive
12:13to reduce this death toll.
12:16We want to be able to predict
12:17the tornado's occurrence
12:18ahead of time.
12:21We want to be able to tell the public
12:22long before one of these tornadoes occurs
12:24that it's going to occur
12:25and where it's going to occur.
12:27In this simulation,
12:28we have a storm that produces
12:30a multiple vortex tornado.
12:33Boom, there's your tornado.
12:35And it starts out
12:36as like a needle-thin, narrow thing,
12:38maybe 100 meters across.
12:39Very strong winds right off the top,
12:41but you'll notice as time goes on,
12:43it gets wider.
12:46Eventually, this thing
12:47gets wrapped in rain,
12:49but as it gets widened,
12:50you start to see
12:51embedded within this tornado
12:52are what you might think of
12:53as mini tornadoes.
12:55They're called suction vortices.
12:58And the multiple vortices
12:59are all kind of rotating
13:00about the center of a tornado.
13:02They each contain
13:04a center of low pressure
13:05and winds spiraling around them.
13:08So you have a combination
13:09of horizontal winds
13:10that are able to be so strong
13:12that they can just,
13:13you can just lift the top
13:15of a piece of pavement off
13:16and it's going to be
13:16pulled away, peeled away.
13:18Then you have a suction vortex
13:20that comes in
13:20and literally draws mass
13:22upwards from the ground
13:23because the updraft is so strong.
13:27By 2 p.m.,
13:29the sky's full
13:29of potentially deadly supercells
13:32raging across Dixie Alley
13:34and beyond.
13:35This is probably
13:36the most serious event,
13:38quite frankly,
13:39going back maybe
13:39over the 32 years
13:40I've been here.
13:42There are multiple storms.
13:44All of these
13:45are life-threatening.
13:47It was going to be
13:48one of those days
13:49where if people didn't take cover,
13:51they were going to die.
13:54With lives at stake,
13:56Matt Lobhan
13:57is in just his third week
13:59of a new job
13:59as a meteorologist
14:01at WTVA
14:02in Tupelo, Mississippi.
14:04To be a new person
14:05forecasting here,
14:07I doubted
14:07what I was looking at.
14:09I'm looking at this
14:10and I'm like,
14:10I mean,
14:11this is as extreme
14:12as it can get.
14:14It's something like
14:15I'd never seen before.
14:17How do I believe
14:18that I can convince them
14:19to trust me
14:20that this kid
14:22knows what he's talking about?
14:23This could be
14:25a tornado developing.
14:26This has not been reported
14:27as a tornado on the ground.
14:28Almost every storm
14:29on the radar
14:30looked like it could
14:31be producing a tornado.
14:32It was the most overwhelmed
14:34I have ever felt.
14:38On radar,
14:39many of the supercell storms
14:41are showing
14:42the ominous hallmark
14:43of a potentially developing tornado,
14:46a hook echo.
14:49As we go from 2 p.m.
14:51to about 2.30,
14:52this is a half an hour here.
14:53Now look how we have clearly
14:55one, two, three, four.
14:57Four of these
14:58supercellular thunderstorms
14:59and even the storms
15:00that haven't really developed
15:01have a little hook echo.
15:04Everything has a hook echo,
15:06every single one of them.
15:11A hook echo
15:12is caused by precipitation
15:14and rapidly descending
15:15cold air
15:16at the rear of the storm
15:17as it wraps around
15:19the supercell's mesocyclone.
15:23It's this descending air
15:25that can drag
15:25a mesocyclone
15:26to the ground.
15:30And it's a sure sign
15:31that a tornado
15:32may be about to form.
15:35But on April 27, 2011,
15:38the deadly weather system
15:40is set to break
15:41almost all known records.
15:45What was so different
15:47about this
15:48was we had
15:49so much
15:51of the ingredients
15:52over such a large area
15:54that it wasn't
15:56that we were going
15:56to produce one,
15:57that we would produce
15:58multiple long-track tornadoes
16:01that aren't just
16:02down for a minute
16:03and done
16:04but down for
16:05half an hour,
16:07an hour.
16:12Within minutes
16:14of the massive
16:14Philadelphia tornado,
16:16another supercell
16:17is showing the hook echo
16:19as it fast approaches
16:20the town of Coleman, Alabama.
16:26Gosh, goodness gracious.
16:28Let's take a look
16:28at those cloud bases.
16:29Are you kidding me?
16:31I cannot believe
16:32we can see if we can see
16:33that that far away.
16:34We watched a rapidly
16:36and I mean rapidly
16:37developing thunderstorm
16:38that went from a shower
16:40to a supercell
16:41within literally
16:4120, 25 minutes.
16:44It's down.
16:46The tornado has formed.
16:49Just making a beeline
16:50right, right
16:51toward downtown Coleman.
16:53Based on what we're seeing
16:54on the sky cam,
16:55that tornado down at the base
16:57could be one-half mile wide.
16:59Goodness gracious,
17:01everybody in downtown Coleman
17:02should be in a safe place
17:04hunkered down right now.
17:08But Kitty Spears,
17:10owner of Coleman's Busy Bee Cafe,
17:12has decided to stay at work.
17:15It was 3 o'clock.
17:16It was closing time.
17:17And I come to the cash register
17:20to get the money.
17:23And I just had pushed a button
17:25to open the cash register
17:26and all of a sudden
17:27my ears started hurting
17:30and I was doing this number
17:32and I just happened to look up
17:33and I could see
17:34coming over the bridge
17:36a cloud on the ground,
17:38a big, wide, dirty cloud
17:40just coming straight at me.
17:43I didn't see a funnel.
17:44I just saw a cloud on the ground
17:46and I could see stuff
17:47flying in the cloud.
17:49I could see debris flying.
17:51It was dirty, nasty looking.
17:53And that's...
17:54I knew it was a tornado.
17:57This is coming right through
17:59the middle of downtown Coleman.
18:00You can see the debris
18:02swirling underneath this thing.
18:03This is a tornado emergency
18:05for the city of Coleman.
18:08Goodness gracious.
18:12We knew this was bad
18:13and I had great fear
18:14that we would have loss of life.
18:19Kitty Spears' son, Kyle,
18:21and his father
18:22race towards downtown Coleman
18:24and Kyle films the aftermath.
18:30As they reach the Busy Bee Cafe,
18:32they make a shocking discovery.
18:35It's just a whole pile of rubble.
18:41When we came around the corner,
18:43we seen that the business was destroyed.
18:45There was nothing there.
18:54We just drove right up
18:55as fast as could
18:56and just parked in the middle of the road
18:57and I ran out
19:00screaming for my mom.
19:05The whole Busy Bee was destroyed.
19:07My dad, he was running around
19:08frantically too
19:09looking for my mother.
19:11This is the whole downtown area.
19:14He was running around
19:15lifting things up.
19:17We were both just frantic.
19:18I was yelling.
19:19He was pulling,
19:20flipping everything over
19:22to see if he could find
19:23her in the rubble.
19:25It was just absolutely obliterated.
19:31Charges tore up.
19:33It's not just the Busy Bee Cafe
19:35that's gone.
19:38Much of downtown Coleman
19:40has been destroyed.
19:41With fewer than 2% of tornadoes
19:44rating it EF4 or higher,
19:46Coleman is desperately unlucky
19:48to be hit by one.
19:49Whole buildings have been leveled
19:51and cars lifted off the ground
19:54by rotational winds
19:55of 175 miles an hour.
19:58There's Eastside Baptist Church
19:59right there.
20:02Six people have died.
20:04See that power line
20:05down right there?
20:07Kitty Spears is one
20:08of the lucky ones.
20:11Some people came running up
20:13and they told us
20:14that my mom had been found
20:17in the rubble.
20:17She was in pretty,
20:19really bad pain,
20:21beat up,
20:22bloody, bruised.
20:24I was relieved
20:25that she was still alive
20:26because I thought
20:29this was going to be
20:29the day that
20:32my mom was leaving me.
20:34The route's gone
20:35and it just sucked
20:37the whole place out.
20:39No front,
20:40no back,
20:41no nothing.
20:44I jumped under the counter
20:47as far as I could get
20:48and next thing I know
20:49it,
20:50the whole building exploded
20:52and I couldn't move.
20:53I was just trapped.
20:55I could feel everything
20:57just falling on top of me,
20:59pounding me,
20:59hitting me.
21:00I couldn't move.
21:01I was,
21:02I just could not move
21:03from the weight
21:04of everything on top of me
21:05and I didn't realize
21:06I was even hurt
21:08until they started
21:10digging me out
21:11and it's when
21:12I just started screaming
21:13in excruciating pain
21:14because I shattered
21:16my pelvis.
21:21The Wizard of Oz
21:22used to be
21:23one of my favorite movies
21:24when I was a child
21:26and then I,
21:27I got to live it.
21:29Mark County.
21:30At the same time
21:31as the Coleman tornado,
21:33James Spann
21:33is tracking another
21:34powerful supercell storm
21:36that is showing
21:37a clear hook echo.
21:39So this lead storm
21:40is approaching
21:41Hackleburg.
21:44The longest
21:45and most deadly
21:46tornado
21:46of the super outbreak
21:47is about to strike.
21:49Everybody in Hackleburg,
21:51be in a safe place
21:53now.
22:02Mid-afternoon
22:03on the 27th of April 2011
22:06and a powerful supercell storm
22:09is bearing down
22:10on the town
22:11of Hackleburg, Alabama.
22:14I was just pleading
22:15with the viewers,
22:15you've got to listen,
22:17you've got to pay attention,
22:18you've got to get shelter.
22:19You want to be
22:20in an interior part
22:21of that lowest floor.
22:22Take blankets and pillows
22:23with you if you can.
22:24Otherwise,
22:25get underneath
22:25something sturdy.
22:27If you're not
22:27in a reinforced shelter,
22:29if you're not
22:29in a well-built structure
22:31and a tornado
22:32with 210 miles per wind
22:34is coming towards you,
22:35if you're in a mobile home,
22:36you will die.
22:37And so this lead storm
22:39is approaching Hackleburg.
22:42Everybody in Hackleburg,
22:43be in a safe place now.
22:44Then,
22:46meteorologists' worst fears
22:47are realized.
22:48The telltale sign
22:50of a tornado touching down,
22:52known as a debris signature,
22:54forms on radar.
22:55It confirms the supercell
22:58has now spawned a tornado
22:59and it's heading
23:00straight for Hackleburg.
23:02A debris signature
23:04is literally a circle
23:06that you see on radar
23:08and at the middle
23:09of that circle
23:10is where the tornado is
23:11and all of the debris
23:12that's being lifted
23:13off the ground
23:14is reflecting back
23:15the energy
23:16to the radar site.
23:18And so that deepest purple,
23:20that's a bunch of trees
23:22and that's a bunch of houses
23:24and other things
23:25that are all just
23:26spinning around
23:27at more than 200 miles per hour.
23:32The tornado
23:33rips through Hackleburg
23:36and it shows
23:37no sign of stopping
23:39as it bears down
23:40on the neighboring town
23:41of Phil Campbell
23:42and its population
23:44of just over 1,000 people.
23:51Local police officer
23:53Gary Wayne Mays
23:54grabs a camera
23:56and begins filming
23:57the approaching tornado.
24:00When I came out,
24:01I got here
24:02and I noticed
24:03the clouds were looking
24:04real black back that way
24:06and kind of reminded you
24:08of watching
24:08The Wizard of Oz.
24:09You know,
24:10you're watching it
24:11and you're seeing
24:12this big swirling cloud
24:14up there.
24:15Phil Campbell 3
24:16to 911.
24:17I got rotation
24:18coming through
24:18the Phil Campbell
24:19right now.
24:24You saw bright white
24:26on this side
24:26and bright white
24:27on this side
24:28and it was just black.
24:31It was just intense wind.
24:34you could hear
24:35the debris
24:35getting torn off
24:36the buildings
24:37right in front of it.
24:42Danny, run at us!
24:43Get some ice ice!
24:45Hey, no, folks.
24:55This thing had
24:56a wind velocity
24:57of 200 miles per hour
24:59or greater.
25:00You can't really
25:02imagine that.
25:08Even well-engineered homes
25:10were totally taken
25:12off their foundation.
25:18With just 0.1%
25:20of tornadoes
25:21traveling more
25:22than 100 miles,
25:23this long-track tornado
25:25stays on the ground
25:26for more than two hours,
25:29covering a distance
25:30of 130 miles.
25:33As it rips
25:34through a region
25:35with a high concentration
25:36of mobile homes,
25:38it's the second
25:40EF-5 to hit
25:41Dixie Alley
25:42within 60 minutes.
25:46Most tornadoes
25:47are down
25:47for 5, 10, 15 minutes.
25:49They're gone.
25:50Most tornadoes
25:51are EF-0s
25:52and EF-1s.
25:53This was an EF-5.
25:56EF-5s
25:57are excessively rare.
26:00They had two of them,
26:01two of them
26:02side by side,
26:03and one day
26:04it was simply
26:06remarkable.
26:09You don't expect
26:10to come to work
26:11that day
26:11and have 26 people
26:12die on your shift.
26:15We found a young child
26:17that had been killed.
26:18I didn't find him,
26:19but I was there
26:20just shortly after
26:21one of the fire department
26:23a gentleman
26:25found him.
26:26And it's bad
26:28when it's an adult,
26:29but it's a little worse
26:31feeling when it's a child.
26:42As the tornado
26:43continues to move northeast,
26:45it becomes the deadliest
26:47for half a century
26:48as 72 people
26:50lose their lives.
26:53At the same time,
26:55a third EF-5
26:56is about to land
26:57near the town
26:58of Smithville, Mississippi.
27:08With a wave
27:09of potentially deadly
27:10supercell storms
27:12moving across
27:13the southern United States,
27:14James Spann
27:16is desperately trying
27:17to warn viewers
27:18to take shelter.
27:19A lot of the severe
27:20weather parameters
27:21are just off the charts.
27:23Any of these storms
27:24could erupt
27:24and go severe
27:25in a heartbeat.
27:27But there's a limit
27:29to meteorologists' ability
27:30to precisely forecast
27:32a tornado.
27:34It is the most
27:35frustrating thing.
27:36We can see this
27:37violent rotation
27:38on radar,
27:38but we don't know
27:39if it's aloft
27:40or on the ground.
27:41We have no idea.
27:42To really for sure know
27:44it, there's a tornado down.
27:45We need somebody
27:46looking at it.
27:49And with only around
27:5120% of supercells
27:53forming into tornadoes,
27:54this leads
27:55to another problem.
27:58Currently,
27:59we have about
27:59a 75% false alarm rate
28:01with tornado warnings.
28:02For every three
28:03out of four tornado
28:04sirens that goes off,
28:06only one in four
28:06is in a tornado.
28:08And rightly so,
28:09the public can sometimes
28:10get a little jaded
28:11from that.
28:14But with so many
28:15massive supercells
28:16still raging,
28:18meteorologists
28:19at national weather
28:20offices across the region
28:21are taking no chances.
28:24We are really,
28:26really pushing it hard
28:26with this event
28:28due to all the ingredients
28:30coming together
28:31for violent killer tornadoes.
28:34At that point,
28:35it's a matter of
28:36do people have
28:37a safe place to go
28:38or are they going
28:39to get to it?
28:42After a day
28:43of intermittent sirens,
28:45retired truck driver
28:46Paul Estes
28:47and his family
28:48are at their local diner
28:49in Smithville, Mississippi,
28:51trying to go about
28:52their lives as normal.
28:56Storm sirens
28:57were going off
28:58and on through the day.
29:00But we had gotten
29:01to a point
29:02where we just didn't...
29:04We got kind of complacent,
29:06so there goes
29:06the sirens again.
29:09But just after
29:103.30 p.m.,
29:12everything changes.
29:15Well, the next thing
29:16I knew,
29:17one of the employees
29:17said,
29:18there's tornado on the way,
29:19shut the gas off,
29:20and y'all get in the cooler.
29:24So I jumped in the cooler
29:26and pulled the cooler
29:26door shut.
29:35This is what we hid in
29:37to get away
29:38from the tornado
29:38and get into some safety.
29:41My daughters were screaming,
29:43and I could hear
29:43my wife praying,
29:44and I grabbed the door.
29:47That was my job,
29:48was to hold that door shut.
29:59Just after 3.40 p.m.,
30:02the third EF-5
30:03in just over 60 minutes
30:05touches down.
30:10With rotational speed
30:12in excess of 200 miles per hour,
30:15it's heading directly
30:16towards the town of Smithville.
30:20It's so powerful
30:21that it lifts a vehicle
30:23130 feet
30:24and sends it smashing
30:26into the town's water tower.
30:32I'd never seen
30:33a debris signature
30:34that was that compact.
30:39Within the next scan,
30:41Smithville's been hit,
30:42and that storm
30:43is already through Smithville.
30:44And then the reports
30:45start coming in
30:46from the field,
30:47and it's just,
30:49you're shell-shocked.
30:54It's absolute,
30:56utter devastation.
31:05As the storm subsides,
31:08it's clear much
31:09of central Smithville
31:10has suffered
31:11catastrophic damage.
31:13But Paul Estes
31:14and his family
31:15have clung to life
31:16inside the diner.
31:19When we come out
31:20of the cooler,
31:21everything was devastated.
31:23Everything was leveled.
31:25wood, twisted metal,
31:28all the way across
31:29to my parents' home.
31:33Paul's parents' house
31:34has been completely destroyed.
31:39Well, when I got here,
31:40it just looked like
31:41somebody had shoved it
31:42to one side
31:43and just broke it
31:44into splinters.
31:46It was devastating.
31:49I don't know
31:50that I ever saw
31:51anything like that before.
31:52You know,
31:53I've seen pictures
31:53on TV of wars
31:54and stuff,
31:56but I've never seen
31:57anything just destroyed
31:58like that.
32:01That got me scared
32:02because I knew
32:03Mom and Daddy
32:03was in the house.
32:06And as I got here,
32:08my dad was still alive.
32:10He was blown over
32:12to the driveway.
32:14He had been covered up
32:16with a bunch of debris,
32:18but I couldn't find
32:19my mama.
32:22He said he was
32:23holding her hand
32:24and she just went
32:25up and away from him.
32:28So I couldn't hold
32:29on to her.
32:33I just stood there
32:34and cried.
32:35I mean,
32:37I had a good idea
32:38she was gone.
32:39Mama was dead,
32:40but I just stood there
32:41and cried.
32:51In just over 60 minutes,
32:54there have now been
32:55three deadly EF-5s
32:57across Alabama
32:58and Mississippi.
32:59To have three
33:00within an hour,
33:02within the geographic
33:03distance we're talking
33:04about here,
33:05is just un...
33:07I mean,
33:08it's unbelievable.
33:09It's unfathomable.
33:11Just when it seems
33:12things can't get any worse,
33:14just a hundred miles
33:16from Smithville,
33:17another tornado
33:18touches down.
33:22And this one
33:23is heading straight
33:24for one of the most
33:25heavily populated towns
33:27in Alabama.
33:28This is a large,
33:30violent tornado
33:31coming up
33:31on downtown Tuscaloosa.
33:33Be in a safe place
33:34right now.
33:43A mile-wide
33:45multiple vortex tornado
33:46is on track
33:47to hit the densely
33:49populated city
33:50of Tuscaloosa.
33:51And that is a huge
33:52tornado
33:53that is moving
33:54right up
33:55on downtown Tuscaloosa.
33:56This is an extremely
33:58violent situation.
33:59Don't take any chances
34:01with this.
34:02This is as violent
34:03a situation
34:03as you'll ever see.
34:04I want everybody
34:05in the city limits
34:06of Tuscaloosa
34:07to stay sheltered.
34:13University student
34:14and TV intern
34:15Victoria Sheehan
34:17takes shelter
34:18at the local station.
34:21I went down
34:22into the newsroom
34:24and I remember
34:26at one point
34:27through the chaos,
34:29I mean,
34:29we were all working
34:29on trying to answer phones
34:31and trying to keep
34:32the latest update
34:33of where was this thing.
34:34And I just remember
34:36hearing someone say,
34:37oh my God,
34:38there it is.
34:41News anchor
34:42Lynn Brooks
34:43is watching
34:43from the same building.
34:45We watched this
34:47monster form
34:49before our very eyes.
34:51And I'm watching
34:52this on the monitor
34:55and I thought,
34:57it's coming for us.
35:00It's coming
35:01for us.
35:03I had a home
35:04video camera with me
35:05and I'm recording
35:07this whole time
35:07and I come out
35:09the stairwell
35:09and look out the window
35:11and there it is.
35:14That huge monster
35:15that has come
35:16to our city.
35:17You're seeing the rotation.
35:19You're just drawn
35:21into this
35:23unimaginable
35:25sight.
35:28It's coming
35:29over the campus buildings.
35:36Everything went black.
35:40Boom.
35:42If you are
35:43in the city limits
35:44of Tuscaloosa
35:44or on the campus
35:45of the University
35:46of Alabama,
35:47stay sheltered.
35:48Get underground.
35:50As the tornado
35:51approaches downtown
35:52Tuscaloosa,
35:5425-year-old
35:55Ryan Chandler
35:56and his friend Nate
35:57decide to ignore
35:58the warnings.
36:00I was watching
36:01James Spann
36:02on the news
36:03talking about
36:04the storms
36:04that were coming
36:05through.
36:05That's actually
36:06when I sent out
36:07a tweet
36:07to see if anybody
36:09wanted to chase
36:10a storm
36:11and my friend Nate
36:13actually replied
36:14and said,
36:15he was game
36:16and we took off
36:18down 15th Street.
36:20There it is.
36:22All of a sudden
36:22it was right
36:23on top of us.
36:24This is a large
36:26violent tornado
36:27coming up on
36:27downtown Tuscaloosa.
36:29Be in a safe place
36:29right now.
36:34It was just
36:35this wall
36:36of churning clouds
36:39bigger than anything
36:40that you can really
36:40imagine.
36:45The raw power behind
36:47it was incredible.
36:48That thing is...
36:52Go, Chandler.
36:53It was one of those
36:54things you were almost
36:55drawn to.
36:57I was transfixed on it.
37:02Go,
37:03I'm not kidding.
37:05Oh my God.
37:10Nate definitely
37:11felt like we were
37:11too close
37:12and that's when
37:13he became pretty
37:13emphatic
37:14that we needed
37:14to back up.
37:16We just put it
37:16in reverse
37:17and went reverse
37:18down the wrong way
37:19on the interstate.
37:30At one and a half
37:31miles wide,
37:32the vast tornado
37:33rips through the city.
37:39We're getting reports
37:40of major damage
37:41in Tuscaloosa.
37:44Look at the debris.
37:45Look at the debris.
37:46And all you can do
37:46is pray for those people.
37:52I can't even recognize
37:53this place
37:54has power lines.
37:58Look at the stuff
37:59that you have got
38:00in your bed.
38:04I've never been to war,
38:06but it would be
38:06the closest thing
38:07I've seen to,
38:08or I would describe
38:09as a war zone.
38:11And houses look like
38:12they had just been
38:13exploded or imploded.
38:15Building materials
38:16were everywhere.
38:22As they drive
38:24through the devastation,
38:25suddenly they spot
38:27a sign of life.
38:29Come on.
38:30Get in.
38:31Come on.
38:33Oh my God,
38:34my dog.
38:34Are you okay?
38:35Hey, are people okay?
38:36I don't know.
38:38All of a sudden,
38:40everything went
38:40from fun and games
38:42and chasing a storm
38:44to a reality
38:46that there were
38:47people that were trapped
38:48and people that were hurt
38:49and people that could be dead.
38:52I can't call nobody.
38:54Oh my God, y'all.
39:02A deadly multiple vortex tornado
39:05has just hit
39:06a densely populated area
39:08of Tuscaloosa.
39:09Local student
39:11Victoria Sheehan
39:12films the aftermath
39:13with no idea
39:15if her home
39:15is still standing.
39:18There's just people
39:19walking down
39:21the main roads
39:22in Tuscaloosa.
39:25Oh, this used
39:26to be the church.
39:31We actually came
39:32over a slight hill
39:34and you could look out
39:35and you saw
39:36University Boulevard
39:37and it was just...
39:40It looked like a war zone.
39:47I remember there were
39:48helicopters flying over above.
39:49They were still doing
39:50search and rescue.
39:52I remember
39:53the first time
39:54realizing, like,
39:55this is my community,
39:56this is where I live.
39:57We walked and we turned
39:58and there was
39:59so much debris.
40:01I mean, I've just never
40:02seen anything like that.
40:03But we looked out
40:04and for a second
40:06it looked like my apartment.
40:08Oh my God.
40:09We were all so excited.
40:11Oh my God.
40:11There's someone in it.
40:13Half of it.
40:15There's someone in there.
40:16It's bad.
40:17No, that's the bottom.
40:25Wow.
40:28In an instant
40:31it comes into focus
40:32that actually
40:34I don't see anything
40:35of my apartment left.
40:56There were kids
40:57right down the street
40:58that died
40:58and they didn't have
41:00a chance
41:00at a future.
41:04The fact that
41:05their story ends there
41:08it's really tough
41:09because there's nothing
41:10that can be done
41:11to bring them back.
41:13And it was just
41:14one afternoon.
41:16Just one afternoon
41:17in April.
41:19And they
41:20didn't wake up that day
41:22thinking this would be
41:24the last.
41:36It doesn't look like
41:38our city
41:40anymore.
41:43Where did it go?
41:45Where is our city?
41:47You live on the same street
41:48for 20, 30 years
41:50and people would make
41:51the wrong turn
41:51to go to their own home
41:52because there's no more
41:53landmarks anymore.
41:57With damage
41:59of more than
41:59$2 billion
42:01the Tuscaloosa tornado
42:02becomes one of the most
42:04costly in U.S. history.
42:08With winds
42:09in excess of
42:10190 miles an hour
42:12it's rated at
42:13EF4.
42:15More than
42:164,000 homes
42:17are destroyed
42:18and 65 people
42:20lose their lives.
42:23I think we could have
42:24done much better.
42:25I think with hindsight
42:26you know which of these
42:27storms was going to be
42:28a killer.
42:29You can hone in more
42:30on those.
42:30I would love to think
42:32with more experience
42:32that we could have
42:33said the right things.
42:36But they were going
42:37to be killers
42:38regardless.
42:39There is no book,
42:40there is no manual,
42:41there is no class
42:42on how to handle
42:42one day with 62 tornadoes
42:45in one state.
42:46History will judge us
42:47on how we perform
42:48that day.
42:48I don't know,
42:50I have no earthly
42:50idea.
42:51But to me
42:53it wasn't
42:54the number
42:55of EF5s,
42:56it wasn't
42:56the number
42:57of EF4s,
42:57it was the number
42:58of people
42:58that died.
43:01That's what's
43:02in my mind.
43:04We all experienced
43:05our weakest moment.
43:08We had been brought
43:09to our knees
43:09by this.
43:13But in that moment
43:14of weakness,
43:15when all the material
43:16possessions were stripped
43:17away and you realized
43:20you had maybe someone
43:22that you loved
43:22to still hold on to,
43:27you saw a strength
43:28in people like you
43:30would have never
43:30seen otherwise.
43:41By the end
43:42of April 28, 2011,
43:45over four consecutive
43:46days, 362 tornadoes
43:50have caused damage
43:51in excess of $11 billion.
43:55321 people
43:56have lost their lives.
43:59in one of the most
44:00devastating tornado
44:01outbreaks in U.S.
44:03history.
44:22utmost your disease
44:22will remain
44:23In the next
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