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From Nick Saban to a Hackleburg human cross, Alabama marks April 27, 2011 tornadoes anniversary
By Alabama NewsCenter Staff April 28, 2021
Nick Saban, upper left, remembered the April 27, 2011 tornadoes as did those in Tuscaloosa, Concord, Hackleburg and other communities. (Danielle Kimbrough / Alabama NewsCenter, UA Athletics, Pikeville Drone Services, Madison Scales Williams)
It’s been a decade since 62 tornadoes raked through Alabama, taking lives, leveling homes and businesses and creating physical and emotional wounds that are burned into the memories of survivors.
There were events, gatherings and personal remembrances throughout Alabama Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes. The devastation can’t be forgotten, but the assistance and kindness in the immediate aftermath and the resiliency shown in the years since are the greatest testaments to that day.
April 27, 2011 tornadoes, moment-by-moment: How it happened
Updated 7:13 AM;
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Even a decade later, it seems hard to believe.
The tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011 cemented itself in the consciousness of every Alabamian who experienced it. Two waves of deadly storms battered the state over the course of one day, leaving broken cities, twisted wreckage and lost lives.
Looking at the statistics gives only the barest idea of what occurred. The deadly weather system was part of a three-day outbreak that was the worst of its kind in U.S. history. Alabama saw 62 tornadoes. Twenty-nine of them left storm tracks covering more than 690 miles.
Survivors from Elmore County mobile home park remember April 27th tornado Myers Damage. (Source: WSFA 12 News) By Matt Russell | April 27, 2021 at 10:00 AM CDT - Updated April 27 at 1:38 PM
ELMORE COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - When images of April 27, 2011, are remembered for many, they often focus on the destruction in the northern parts of Alabama, but disastrous weather stretched across Alabama. An EF-4 tornado moved from Elmore to Tallapoosa County, going through Lake Martin, claiming seven lives, and injuring 30 people.
In Elmore County, Myers Country Acres served as a mobile home park for residents of Eclectic.
“We were a family out here,” says Nancy Myers, owner of the park. “Everybody considered me Mama.”
Alabama communities, nonprofits rallied to aid neighbors after 2011 twisters
By Carla Davis April 22, 2021
Tornado victims bring laundry to Tide s Loads of Hope truck for free laundry service. Duracell offered free re-charging to phones and computers. These are some ways organizations responded to help those affected by the April 2011 storms and tornadoes. (Meg McKinney / Alabama NewsCenter)
Thinking back on the tremendous devastation and death toll caused by the 62 tornadoes that swept Alabama on April 27, 2011, Robin Skagen said there’s only one word to describe that dark day: “surreal.”
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Skagen, an American Red Cross disaster action team responder at the time, was one of the first on the ground after a tornado swept through the Tuscaloosa area early that morning. It was her job to help assess the damage so the Red Cross could determine ways it could assist the victims.