By Trent Moore
Staff Writer
When strong winds sent a tree crashing through the bedroom of her Good Hope home Sunday night, Roxie Graham was the first to know it.
“I knew that the house was shaking and I knew I should get up out of bed,” she said. “Just as soon as I flipped over to move, the limb came crashing through.”
When the roof caved in on her bedroom, Graham said she was covered under mounds of insulation that had once been in the ceiling.
“Me and my little dog were trying to dig our way out to get free,” she said. “I was scared, but the good Lord was with me.”
Damage and power outages were reported across Cullman county Saturday night when a gravity wave swept through the area, creating 40-50 mile-per-hour winds.
The gravity wave occurred when pressure built up and wind was pushed down toward the ground, following recent storms that have plagued the area.
“It probably freaked a lot of people out,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chelly Amin said, explaining the phenomenon. “It’s related to the rain fall, but the wind isn’t really from a thunderstorm. There isn’t anything on the radar, because it isn’t a storm ... the wind just kind of happens.”
Cullman Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Kelly Allen said his office received numerous reports of home damage and blocked streets in communities across the county.
Kelly said damaged homes and downed trees were reported in Good Hope, Hanceville and the Catalina Point area — as well as other areas countywide. No injuries have been reported.
“There is just a lot of damage everywhere,” he said. “The winds just kind of snuck up and started doing some damage ... It seemed to be more focused south of Hwy. 157.”
Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail said between 12-14 local roads were closed early Monday morning in the city, due to downed trees.
“The roads are opened back up, but now we have the mess to clean up,” he said. “We have a lot of very big trees on the right of way, some so big our street department can’t really deal with them. We’re just going to do what we have to do.”
At the peak hour Monday night, more than 17,000 Cullman Electric Cooperative customers had lost power. Cullman Electric Cooperative Communication Coordinator Brian Lacy said more than 340 different outage issues must be repaired before power is restored to everyone in the service area.
“With the wind last night, there were a lot of trees down and branches on power lines,” Lacy said. “It’s just everywhere and there is a lot of widespread work to get done.”
Lacy said the repair work could take quite a while to complete, possibly leaving some customers without power into today.
“We have every single crew, along with every contract crew and tree trimming crew we have out in the field working non-stop,” he said. “The Cullman Power Board is also helping us out.”
As many as 800 Cullman Power Board members lost power late Sunday night, though power was restored to most city residents by early Monday afternoon.
The National Weather Service is predicting mostly clear weather in Cullman for the remainder of the week, with a high near 60 degrees for today and a 20 percent chance of rain. Sunny skies, with temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, is expected to carry on into the weekend.
Statewide
Across the state, more than 170,000 power customers were without electricity, and an apparent tornado was spawned in south Alabama, according to the Associated Press.
Alabama Power Co. said about 158,474 homes and businesses were in the dark because of damage that occurred from near the Mississippi state line through the Birmingham area. In Huntsville, another 12,000 utility customers lost power.
High winds on the Tennessee River blew the roof off covered boat slips at the Guntersville Yacht Club, causing floating docks to pull apart. The structure blew into U.S. 431, said Anita McBurnett, emergency management director for Marshall County.
No one was injured, but four people who live on big sailboats and yachts stored at the marina had to be rescued after their vessels blew into the river during the storm, she said.
“It’s right on the heels of the tornado on Friday, so we’ve really got our hands full,” she said. Toppled trees littered streets in Guntersville, she said, and few people in the city of 7,400 had power.
The weather service reported winds up to 54 mph in the Tennessee Valley.
Nearly 300 miles to the south, authorities said an apparent tornado touched down in the Geneva County town of Slocomb, damaging the high school baseball field and blowing the roof off a barn.
‰ The Associated Press contributed to this story.
‰ Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.
