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Images of the tornado as it moved across the Hokes Bluff area of Etowah County. ...view images...
The National Weather Service conducted additional storm surveys today of the tornado
damage across north-central St. Clair County and eastern Etowah/Western Cherokee Counties
that were from Saturdays supercell thunderstorm.
In St. Clair county an F2 tornado track was found, which extended
from near Cool Springs to south Ashville, to near Gum Springs Church.
The total track was 8.5 miles long, and about 200 yards wide at its
widest point. The tornado began at 220 PM on County Road 31, just
west of Cool Springs. The tornado lifted around 231 PM, about 3
miles east of Ashville. Click on the map image to the right, to see the
approximate path of this tornado. Image size is about 200k.
Four houses sustained significant damage and two mobile homes were
annihilated. A baseball park was damaged at the Ashville High
School. Two injuries occurred near the beginning of the tornado
track, near Cool Springs.
Damage in Etowah and Cherokee Counties was the result of an F3
tornado. The tornado track was 12.8 miles long and just over one
quarter of a mile or about 500 yards wide at its widest point. Click on the map image to the right, to see the track of this tornado. Image size is about 495k.
The tornado touched down near Tidmore Bend, three miles east north
east of the city of Gadsden, at 246 PM and lifted at 305 PM near
Plano just east-northeast of Pollard Bend in Cherokee County. The tornado track was 4.7 miles in Cherokee County.
The most significant damage with the F3 tornado was in the Coats Bend
Community of Etowah County where 14 injuries occurred and
approximately 250 homes were either totally destroyed or had major
damage. Damage in Cherokee County was primarily downed trees along with damage to several structures.
These tornadoes were associated with the same supercell thunderstorm
that caused the killer Tuscaloosa tornado.
A Tornado Watch on Saturday, December 16, 2000, was in effect from 10 AM to 4 PM.
A Tornado Warning for St. Clair County was in effect from 157 PM to 245 PM.
A Tornado Warning was in effect for Etowah County from 220 PM to 3PM.
A Tornado Warning was in effect for Cherokee County from 250 PM to 330 PM.
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