BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A Christmastime wave of severe weather continued Friday as a tornado touched down in Jefferson County, Ala., including through the southwest portion of Birmingham, the state’s largest city.
Witnesses spotted the funnel outside the city about 5 p.m. An hour later, the National Weather Service confirmed that first responders were on the scene along Jefferson Avenue in a working-class neighborhood about 8 miles from downtown Birmingham.
Lt. Sean Edwards, a Birmingham police spokesman, said trees are down and people were trapped inside damaged houses, adding that several people were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, but further details were not immediately available.
Ruthie Green went door-to-door in a coat and a bicycle helmet to check on neighbors after the storm and swept debris from her front porch as more emergency responders arrived in the neighborhood.
“I’ve been listening to the news all day, so I was kind of preparing,” Green said. When the tornado warning came up on her iPad, Green said she ran to a closet.
“Then I heard the big roaring. It didn’t last more than three minutes,” Green said. “I just laid down and just kept praying.”
Green said she was unsure of whether any neighbors had been injured or killed down the block where several homes were destroyed.
“We probably won’t know anything until daylight comes,” she said. “I’m hoping that everybody got out all right.”
“Details are still sketchy,” said Jason Holmes, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Weather radar Friday evening showed an intense system along the Interstate 20/59 corridor west of Birmingham, with the storm moving eastward.
Pastor Melvin Howard of the Mount Olive Full Gospel Church said he rushed to Jefferson Avenue and 50th Street when he heard the storm hit. Howard said his church’s building had collapsed but no one was inside at the time.
“We’re just there to salvage what we can salvage,” he said.
