Addictronics

On April 27, 2011 Several devastating storms tore across the South Eastern United States. One storm spawned a tornado that passed through Tuscaloosa, Alabama and The University of Alabama. It created a path straight through my apartment complex, and me.

My Girlfriend (Jessica) was over at my 2nd floor apartment due to the bad weather that day. We both had received multiple text messages and calls about the bad weather headed our way. However, looking outside we were not alarmed. We saw overcast skies with semi-dark clouds. Comparing the lack of wind/hail/and rain to April 15th, when a tornado passed just south of Tuscaloosa, reassured us that it was not going to be bad. As the afternoon progressed we could tell that things were getting slightly worse. I pulled up a live stream of the weather online and watched the weather man (James Spann) diligently laying out the paths of other severe storm fronts and tornadoes occurring throughout the state of Alabama and surrounding. As Jessica pointed out on April 15th that you can always tell the severity of the weather by the status of James Spann’s jacket. On is good, Off is bad. Today it was off from the get go.

We watch a tornado drop out of the clouds from the skycam in downtown Tuscaloosa. I walk outside and try to look in that direction but my door is on the opposite side of the building. We watch the feed of the tornado as it begins tearing through Tuscaloosa.  At one point the tower camera feed is lost and just minutes later we lose power. All of my networking equipment is on a battery backup so I whip out my netbook and attempt to pull up James again. This whole time Jessica has been outside on the porch looking around and watching the clouds. I give up with my netbook due to the cable internet being down before it gets to my apartment so I turn on my weather radio and start throwing some things in a pack. Almost immediately Jessica spots several people leaving their house and heading for their crawlspace door. She asks them if the tornado is headed for us and looking up at here one yells out ” It is right behind you!”.

Here is a Google Street View of the apartment before the tornado. My apartment was the top right unit and the house is seen here with the entrance to the crawlspace on the side facing my apartment. The tornado came from behind my apartment building and passed directly over my end unit and the house we were under before continuing out the right side of this picture

I finished throwing things in my pack and we ran down the stairs and across the parking lot. At this point it was not even raining and hardly windy. We dove into the dugout crawlspace across the parking lot from my second floor apartment but not before I turned around and looked up the swirling mass approaching us.  Crawling through a small 2′x3′ door I am pleasantly surprised with a couple of steps leading into a slightly dugout crawlspace and not a real ‘get on your hands and knees” type. Glancing around I see that there is a cinder block extending from ground level up to the bottom of the floor joist and a cinder block pillar in the middle. I unconsciously determined that we should all get down and against the right hand wall not realizing at the time why I felt inclined to move there. I later realized that by stopping to look at the tornado and analyzing the building construction of the house I subconsciously determined that 1) We should not be standing up but instead get down 2) The counter-clockwise spin of the tornado meant that the right hand wall was the safest. These two facts made a very big impact when looking at the post tornado pictures.

With our backs against the wall there was little that we could do but ride it out. At some point I decided to pull out my phone and start video taping (see below).  A building roar, ears popping and darkness. I didn’t close my eyes until I saw the pillar in front of me start to fall and shoot up into the air with the house attached to it. As the house  above us blew away we had nothing between us and the raging tornado. However, that quickly changed as two vehicles were thrown in on top of us. We were sitting right under where the Jeep Cherokee is now. The triangle void it created as it slid over the wall and landed at our feet was just large enough for Jessica and I. The rear axle struck my head on its descent to the ground. I opened my eyes a the impact but had to close them due to the sandblasting effect we were receiving. It was over in seconds.

Here is a picture taken hours after the tornado passed and taken from the roof of my FJ Cruiser.

The triangle created around us. We were sitting directly under the jeep with our backs against the wall and knees against our chest. Note the bricks and debris peppering our hideout.

View from inside the pit. That is the back of my FJ Cruiser.

My FJ after being pushed back ~50ft and pelted with debris.

The FJ was parked in the spaces in front of it. I am standing in what used to be my apartment to take this picture. Recognize the Stereo Cooler?

A view from my apartment looking across the pit we were in at the remains of a power sub station.

Over the next few hours both Jessica and I assisted in pulling people out from my apartment complex and giving them aid. Thankfully all were alive. We then had to walk several miles to the interstate to meet my parents for a ride home and a hot shower.

———————————–Update July 2011———————————–

Here are three more pictures courtesy of Jessica Colburn.

My apartment. Corner apartment on the second floor. Well at least it used to be. I am really glad we decided not to stay in there. Taken on the day.

If we had stayed in my apartment then we may have opted to get in the shower-tub. I’m glad we didn’t…

It is amazing how fast you get dirty and how dirty you get. We were sandblasted literally. This is me standing in the back of my FJ Cruiser a few hours after the tornado passed.

Here is a short compilation of my footage and some pictures.

My interview with Piers Morgan on CNN.

Mr. President giving a speech in front of the remains of my apartment.

Jeff’s short clip of us getting down to the trapped couple.

Jeff helping me to carry the girl to safety.

In this interview Mr. President is standing between my apartment and my FJ Cruiser. The house we were under used to be right behind where the FJ is now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13244407

Another interview that includes my girlfriend Jessica Colburn next to my apartment.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/alabama-deadliest-tornado-outbreak-depression-violent-storms-sweep-through-south-us-13497636