Stats

Path length: 10.33 miles

Width:  500 yards

Fatalities:  9

Injuries:  50

Rating:  EF4

County:  Coffee

Tornado Path

Click Map To Enlarge

SPC coordinates:  Start: 31.2836/-85.9191 End:  31.3772 / -85.783    

Note:  Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.

Summary

At 12:47 pm CST on March 1, 2007, a tornado warning was issued for Coffee County, AL. This included the City of Enterprise.  At approximately 1:05 pm CST, the tornado was documented on the ground at the Enterprise Municipal Airport.  Minor damage to homes occurred.  Four chicken houses were destroyed.  Five minutes later, the tornado hit Enterprise High School.  

Eight students were killed when a concrete wall collapsed on top of them as they huddled in a hallway in a crouched position.  An article in the Dothan Eagle from 2017 highlights the lives of Michael Bowen, Peter Dunn, A.J. Jackson, Ryan Mohler, Katie Strunk, Michael Tompkins, Jamie Ann Vidensek, and Michelle Wilson. 

50 were injured.  The football stadium was destroyed.  Vehicles surrounding the school were overturned. 

A ninth fatality occurred in Downtown Enterprise. 83-year-old retired nurses’ aid Edna Hays Strickland was killed.  She was standing behind a living room window of her home as the glass shattered.  Damage occurred to an elementary school.  A National Weather Service survey showed EF4 damage near the high school and in NE Enterprise.  239 homes were destroyed, 374 had major damage.  Coffee County was declared a federal disaster area. The tornado was on the ground for 10.33 miles and had a max width of 500 yards.

Images via Storm Data & NWS Tallahassee Summary

An aerial view of the destroyed Enterprise High School where an EF-4 tornado touched down in Enterprise, Alabama.
Areas damaged by the EF-4 tornado that struck Enterprise, AL, on Thursday, March 1, 2007. The base reflectivity image from the Ft. Rucker, AL, Doppler Radar (KEOX) for 1915 UTC is overlaid. Circles indicate damage with red circles representing significant damage. Enterprise High School is denoted by the purple star. Orthoimagery available from USGS, EROS data center. Damage mapped from aerial and on-ground photography from NWS Storm Survey teams and satellite imagery courtesy of GeoEye.
The base reflectivity image from the Ft. Rucker, AL, Doppler Radar (KEOX) for 1915 UTC 1 March 2007.
The base storm-relative velocity image from the Ft. Rucker, AL, Doppler Radar (KEOX) for 1915 UTC 1 March 2007.
Damage sustained by the Enterprise High School from the deadly tornado that struck on Thursday, March 1, 2007.

Satellite Comparison of Damage via NASA

The Ikonos satellite captured this detailed image of the school on March 5, 2007. The lower image, provided for comparison, shows the school on February 23, 2000.

Videos

Newspaper Clippings

Sources:

The Storm Prediction Center

NCDC Storm Events Database

March 2007 Storm Data Publication

NWS Tallahassee Summary

NASA Satellite Comparison of Damage

Reports, Staff, and Ho. “A Glimpse at the Nine People Killed in the 2007 Tornado.” Dothan Eagle, 28 Feb. 2017, www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/a-glimpse-at-the-nine-people-killed-in-the-tornado/article_622092e8-fe11-11e6-ac51-eba575909c48.html.

newspapers.com

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Weather History: March 1st – Weather History · September 11, 2022 at 5:38 pm

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