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

Video taken on 4/27/11 from the front entrance of Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest, AL.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• EF-5
• EF-4
• huge
• tornado
• alabama
• twister
• prison
• storm chasers
• weather
• lightning
• thunder
• rain
• disaster
• wind
• science

[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.

[superblytrife]

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

[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

[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.

[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.

[mikeyzx2]

@superblytrife

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

[xxxxyyyyz1]

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

[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.