Harvest, AL Tornado 4/27/11--View from Limestone Correctional Facility

[xxxxyyyyz1]

So what did you do with the slaves? I mean prisoners.

[12shadowlink]

@xxxxyyyyz1 oh cmon.

[bear6021]

Completely awesome....thumbs up to the two for hanging on for as long as they did.

[00TALENT]

best tornado i seen in a while

[suthernbell8385]

What is even sadder is we were at ford's chapel burying my grandfather I almost lost my whole family thanks to mr. Berryhill :( who said there was nothing he could do!!!!! Not even the cops on side of the road would help us! We tried to tell them we needed to go back to funeral home and they would not listen! This is a sad day I will never forget! My cousin who was with us lost her home as well!!!!

[triton115]

What were you doing at the prison?

[guitarest452452]

You can see how it intensified....



[wataki2]

I wanted to see more. What happened next?

[sb57fury1]

Anybody who chases a tornado has got to be a damn fool to do it

[jakescott82]

"oh my gosh...it's right there...OH MY GOSH"...IT'S RIGHT THERE!".....this is the funniest tornado video i have ever seen...especially the first minute and a half. "...it looks like a big storm!"...uh, yeah...that's hilarious.

[lanej13]

This is probably the best video of that tornado. Good job.

[MrBoogyman1988]

I'm giong to the basement ,see ya : Imates, huh?

[Jiggerjonner]

This was exactly my view from my front door just north of the prison. (I can see the guard tower.) You are right, it is surreal to me to think the thing had just killed people and was about to kill 5 more, I believe. That was such a horrible day and such a total shock to see something like that. I was standing there staring like a deer in headlights, just mesmerized.

[xxsouthernbelle94xx]

I swear I thought yall were gonna die!

[APES2L8]

It's like a big storm!

[rocknguitarist1]

i saw this from my house.....i live on smith vasser rd and we were lucky enough to not get hit by this huge ass tornado.....after it fucked tuscaloosa up.....

[Staciegwen]

sooooooo close to my house..

[yynnmmbb]

Guards to Prisoners: "were going to the basemen... see ya"

[superblytrife]

@TheCemetarian not really sure what they did in the dorms. from what I've gathered, they put them up against a wall and just sort of hunkered down. There isn't much you can do, or anywhere to go, when you're dealing with prisoners in a confined setting. Luckily, a tornado has never hit a prison head on in the U.S.

[mikeyzx2]

@superblytrife

Until today, when this same prison was hit by a smaller weaker one but still did damage.

[TheCemetarian]

so what did you do with the prisoners

[Hsvcivilengineer]

Harvest, AL, AKA "Land of Mighty Winds".... This area has been hit dozens of times by small and large tornadoes alike. Sadly, the area will be hit again.

[epicnation360DreamZZ]

omg man it wuz my birthday dat day

[blackops1348]

this tornado hit my neighborhood f5 tornado and like a f2...

[auntstacey123]

It's like being under a huge green dome. Very, very scary. I've got family from that area coming into town monday. I'm so thankful they are OK!

[Girgirl2012]

I thank God that my dad wasn't there working when that happened. That was the same tornado whose winds split a tree in my back yard into 3 parts

[cookiesonsteve]

THAT. WAS. AWESOME. (jackson county here)

[MrComCom1]

@cookiesonsteve how is that awesome? i lost my house basically as they were shooting this video ll show u awesome wats gonna be awesome is my foot up your ungrateful ass

[WAFemp]

I was in that tornado. This was taken after it hit my girlfriends house. Trust me, it was not fun being in the middle of it. It picked up her house and you could feel it moving even though we were in it.

[EMIN3MFOREVER2001]

I was about 1 mile from their or not even and almost hit us i live in harvest and april 27 is my birthday it was scary we have 8 peoopel in the house and fit all of them ikn the bathroom im just so lucky that we didnt get hit

[blackdragoness21]

I was only two and a half miles from that one. It was scary!

[MegaKoolaidgirl]

I live in Meridianville, knowing it came that close to me gave me the freakin chills. I was in school i think when the first one in harvest and toney hit. my dad got hit, he lived in swan creek. his trailer is gone and his car ended up on a street 2 blocks away from him...

[superblytrife]

@GAdawgsfan93 that constant sound you hear is the tornado. No busy roads around the property at all.

[GAdawgsfan93]

was that constant noise in the background from a busy road or from the tornado itself?

[om3g4z3r0]

i THINK the OCEAN polution IS caused BY those TORNADOES ... cause ALL this CRAP this THING pull UP gotta LAND somewhere

[LEOtheIsaurian]

@om3g4z3r0 I TOTALLY AGREE-- IT WOULDN'T EVER LAND ON THE GROUND!!!!!

[om3g4z3r0]

@LEOtheIsaurian SOME of THEM land ON the GROUND , mostly WOOD , but PLASTIC and LIGHT stuff REALLY go TO the OCEAN

[rocknguitarist1]

hahaha "i think we're fixin to go somewhere, i dont kno where we're goin"

[retrounderground1]

Motha of Jeffason Davis! Itsa thousand wonders all of you foo's weren't kilt! Honeh, I'da been a headed to the basement runnin' & screamin' "Tornada's a comin'!" Lord Ha' Merceh! Woooo!

[himsmyboy]

@kravenmoore21 - there are always people who have to be assholes in life over any possible thing. You could give them a case full of $100's and they would bitch about the case it was in or the time you gave it etc.

Tornados kill every year and I'm shocked you were still alive to show this footage but thanks for doing so. I wouldn't try this again!

Thanks

[lilwareagle1288]

Had an f4 hit lake Martin bout twenty mins from my house

[aliusv2]

I was about a mile away from you guys with Harvest Fire. Destroyed my house. We were on the trucks already rolling. We actually watched it from the cab of the fire engine. Glad you guys are okay. It would have been even more chaos if it would have hit the prison.

[shooting4fun]

Holy Smoke that was intense! Wish I had been there!

[BigBlackPeter]

Great! instead of warning the people inside to take cover......they take video of a dangerous tornado! You ought to be fired! People could have been killed idiots!....."it's schuckin' up stuuuf".....yeah it could have "schucked " you up too!!!!

[pdalemason1964]

Not long after it passed you guys it hit Chipmunk Way head on in Western Madison County. There were fatalities there I was told. My friend lives over on Pine Grove and she had no idea how close this storm came by. On the phone as I was talking to her she only mentioned about 5:30 my time (I am in KY and was here during the 1974 outbreak) how dark the sky grew and your video confirms that. WOW...how close it came to you guys! This is the same monster that started in Hackleburg.

[heatherdumas]

I live by Wall Triana and saw this pass by down the road from me, but you guys were closer! Glad yall are ok! At around 2:10 in the video, when the sky starts to get brighter and clearer on the right, that's the way we saw it too. You could see debris flying around.

[kimbama76]

I also lived though this tornado right next to the prison...can't believe how big it is...God is Good!

[xxsouthernbelle94xx]

Pray for Denae!

[superblytrife]

@JennJenn201001 agreed...if it would have hit the prison head on....wow. As sturdy as prisons tend to be, I dont think Limestone would've stood a chance against this beast. Not to mention the security nightmare possibilities with a downed fence. All I can say is that we were very, very fortunate

[MrComCom1]

@superblytrife you the that tornado that yall were looking at just barely missed the prison and hit my house head on im glad we got outta there before it hit i live on Orville smith RD and its just demolished over there like i said it must've missed the prison by a couple hundred yards or less

[msxunderstood10]

this is sooo terrible, when i seen this it qave me qoosebumps! this is riqht down the street from my house. it makes me sooo thankful to be alive.

[innovision777]

My younger brother is In that prison & gets out next saturday.... Glad all is good and safe !!!!!!! :-\

[willjustice89]

whoa*) thx for the video! This is horrendous! I was in the tornado, too, but heck... that one came VERY CLOSE to y'all!~

[auburn601]

Wow. My Aunt and Uncle's house is right down the street from Limestone Correctional and there garage is gone. They"re brand new camper was on its side. All of there chicken houses are completely demolished and 2 people were killed. 1 was down the street in a truck and the other lived behind them. I thank the lord that mostly everyone is okay and not alot of people were killed. that was a huge tornado.

[superblytrife]

@auburn601I think I saw their house. Is it up there near the intersection of Vassar and Orvil Smith? That area is so awful to see and I see it every time I drive home from work. And its just sad to know that shortly after it passed through the prison grounds, it killed people right down the street. It still is quite surreal to me, even a week later.

[amy200879]

Oh my! My husband was working that day at the correctional facility and he told me about it, but I had no idea it was that huge looking! Amazing video! Thanks for sharing!

[zgordon24]

Redneck commentary is the best

[heatherdumas]

@zgordon24 Yep, gotta love it. We're so enthusiastic haha. I don't have a thick accent, but when I get nervous/excited, it definitely comes out! lol

[arclight777]

everything is so green

[bolillo239]

great video, glad everyone was safe, never have thought about a tornado hitting a jail before

[JennJenn201001]

@bolillo239 Think of it this way...100 yards to the left and it could VERY easily have wiped out close to the same amount of people who died on 9/11. 2500 inmates and a couple hundred staff... we were VERY lucky.

[gravyman1965]

My family rode this one out while I was trying to get home to them. That was the worst feeling in the world - looking at this T and knowing my family was under it. I'm buying a storm cellar.

[Wallyworld30]

Amazing video! You were very brave to watch this whole thing go by as close as it was. I was hunkered down in my bathroom covered in comforters.

[superblytrife]

@Wallyworld30 I didn't actually shoot this video, but I was about 50-60 feet to the left of the camera. Believe me, I didn't last outside as long as the folks in the video did lol. Once I saw trees horizontal and could hear nothing but the amazing sound of the tornado, I figured it was probably time to head inside.

Looking back, I felt pretty safe inside of the building I was in. But seeing the aftermath, I see that we could've easily been hurt. This clearly wasn't an average tornado.

[oursedatedyouth]

OMG it is scary how close I was to that thing. That is sorta down the road from Toney School Road. I live out in Toney and am like 2 minutes from Anderson Hills.

Somebody's roof was actually in our yard but our neighborhod was safe thank you Jesus.

[boomtasticracing]

Great video! I was driving down Harvest Rd and it was putting on quite a show.

[SherrieWPRS]

WOW!!!



[fanredsox]

Oh my gorsh,

[tfh0001]

Dumb



[boomersoonergal21]

this tornado was a mile from my house :0

[bamalovnuga]

Good video besides listening to the commentators

[JennJenn201001]

@bamalovnuga I was there as well. People should think of what others are going through before speaking ill of their "commentary". In a situation like this, your LAST thought is what you sound like on video and whether or not you throw out a few expletitives. Give us a break, we lived through H*LL that day!

We were all just thankful we had no injuries...

[JennJenn201001]

@bamalovnuga I was there as well. People should think of what others are going through before speaking ill of their "commentary". In a situation like this, your LAST thought is what you sound like on video and whether or not you throw out a few expletitives. Give us a break, we lived through HELL that day!

We were all just thankful we had no injuries...

[Nicecatholicgirl]

Was this an EF4? EF5?

[Nicecatholicgirl]

@kravenmoore21 Thank you. I wanted to make sure I got my facts right for my next video

[boomersoonergal21]

@kravenmoore21 it was actually an ef5. it was a mile from my house

[VTKrispyKreme]

@kravenmoore21 according to the map from NWS Huntsville, this was the same tornado that hit Hackleburg..

[VTKrispyKreme]

@kravenmoore21 Yeah, I know that. I just wasn't sure from your original response if you were aware it was the same, long-track tornado, which is more than likely why boomersooner said EF-5. I just read through the survey for that area and indeed it was a "high-end EF-4" near Limestone. It said near "EF-5" with some anchored homes being completely wiped clean and thrown some 300 yards, so I'm kinda surprised it didn't get an EF-5 rating, but apparently that was very localized damage.

[BigBlackPeter]

@kravenmoore21 what are you? a freakin' weather expert?!!! "over the course of a tornado pathway.....By the time this particular tornado.....many factors that play into how the rating is assigned..........gimmie' a freakin' break! I'm sure you work on the Arsenal or for a contractor!!!! I'm not gonna' say you are an engineer. You might have an engineering degree. You're probably a paper pusher. Stop actin' like you know every freakin' thing about everything!!!!!

[GOODY61]

@kravenmoore21 This is the Hackeburg tornado-it actually went through 5 towns and the storm damage track was continuous for 130 miles. There are now 4 rated EF5 tornado's on 4/27 including Philadelphia,MS and Rainsville, AL.

[YoJoe4368]

also, i finally got power!

[YoJoe4368]

I live right across old railroad bed over there and ill tell you that tornado made me shit my pants

[weapondrift]

Wow, ominously beautiful

[Kgivans2]

What time was this video shot? This is amazing! And so close to my house! We were truly blessed to have been missed by this one!

[superblytrife]

@Kgivans2 This was right around 4:30ish when the first major wave came through. Glad it missed your house and equally glad it missed the prison grounds where people were! Truly blessed indeed. Something like this kind of makes you realize how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things.

[steve0308]

Right down from the road from this. The sound was horrifying

[coruption9876]

bad part was if it was to shift maybe 50 ft to the left my house and i would not be here ......

[ClaireBecky]

Oh MY! Was Dee OK?

[Nicecatholicgirl]

Incredible. 

[ClaireBecky]

Oh MY!

[ksail70]

We were about 1 mile South East of you guys laying under the the fire trucks listening to that god awful sound.

[superblytrife]

@ksail70 yeah, the sound is something I will never forget. Now I know what people mean when they say it sounds like a train. A really, really BIG train.

[superblytrife]

Btw, I didn't shoot this video, nor am I any of the voices you hear. But I was most definitely there.

[SocialDrivenMedia]

That aqua color is caused by hail. Good catch.