On Sunday March 3, 2019, an EF3 tornado measuring half a mile wide tore through Alabama, destroying everything in its path, killing 23+ people, and injuring many more.  The chaos started around 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon when, according to accuweather.com: “The National Weather Service (NWS) in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a tornado emergency at 2:09 p.m. CST Sunday due to the “confirmed large and destructive tornado.”

 A tornado emergency means that significant, widespread damage with a high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected to continue due to a strong and violent tornado. Tornado emergencies are not issued often by the NWS and typically only used during significant severe weather events.”  

The tornado ripped houses from their foundations, tore trees from the ground and ripped the bark off of them, and threw trailer homes around like cardboard boxes. Describing rescue efforts Sunday night, a local mayor told Fox News: “We had to cut our way in with chainsaws and tractors to get to these people and make sure everyone was okay. We had some elderly people that were trapped in their houses.  Words cannot describe it. Trailer homes turned upside down, the damage is unbelievable.” This was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the U.S. since May 2013 according to a report by Accuweather.