Storm damage to a home near Birmingham.Photo: Butch Dill/AP/Shutterstock
Fortunately, the couple had a storm shelter that could resist an E-F5 tornado installed when they built their new home a few years ago, and that’s exactly where Karen went when the storm approached.
“A huge tree just missed our house!” Karen told the WBMA staff after she came out of the shelter to inspect the destruction to the area. “It’s unbelievable! There is so much damage everywhere.”
“The reason I had to step out: we’ve had major damage at my house,” Spann said. “My wife is OK. A tornado came right through there and it’s not good. It’s bad. It’s bad.”
Spann later posted an update to social media explaining while many trees were damaged at the property, his home was in no need of major structural repairs.
“Many thanks to all of you who have reached out to me; a tornado produced damage at our home today,” Spannwrotein a post to Facebook. “My wife was home when it hit, but she got the warning, was in our in-home shelter, and is fine. While we lost many trees, the home is intact and we will not have to ‘rebuild’. Please consider helping others across the state who have much more serious damage… some lost their homes and are homeless tonight. Thanks again for your kindness.”
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“Thanks again to all of you for your kind words and support,” he said in asubsequentupdate. “A group is coming tomorrow morning to get trees off the house and start the big clean-up. There ARE many people in the state with real needs.”
Gov. Kay Ivey declareda state of emergencyfor 28 counties as the tornado moved through the state, and laterexpanded it to 46.
At least five people — including a family of three — have died so far, the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agencyconfirmed to PEOPLEFriday morning. It’s not clear how many structures were damaged or how many other people were injured at this time, officials said during apress conferenceThursday night.
source: people.com
