VIDEO: Inside the Palmetto Storm Shelter as the Tornado Passes By
Three months ago on August 31st, an EF2 tornado carved a 30 mile path through Pickens and Fayette County Alabama. The tornado took aim at the community of Palmetto. Deputy Gann of the Pickens County Sherriff office captured video of the tornado as it destroyed homes and took down trees.
Katherine Thomas and 50 others were huddled in the Palmetto community storm shelter as the storm passed overhead.
“It was really eerie, it was quiet and you weren’t quite sure anything would happen until we saw the tornado forming and there were people trying to get into the shelter, they were pulling in.”
Katherine caught this video inside the storm shelter as the tornado approached.
“I was just shaking. It was very loud. And then it was quiet. It was the shock of the moment too, just understanding what exactly happened.”
To see the full, unedited video from during and after the tornado, go to Meteorologist Jacob Dickey’s Facebook page.
The tornado passed through town and left a trail of destruction. The one takeaway from this event was that many people stayed safe in the storm. Pickens County EMA Director Ken Gibson encourages everyone to develop a severe weather safety plan that includes what to do and where to go when a tornado warning is issued.
To help assist in developing your severe weather safety plan, your WCBI First Alert Meteorologists have developed a website to help in planning for severe weather. On the site is also a list of storm shelters you can find in your county. Go to www.wcbi.com/safety to learn more about how you can stay safe as we bring you the first alert.
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