Per the NWS, “There were 251 single family dwellings affected (43 destroyed, 76 with major damage, 138 with minor damage), 179 mobile homes affected (79 destroyed, 23 with major damage, 77 with minor damage), and 13 businesses affected (1 destroyed, 7 with major damage, 5 with minor damage).”
Researchers at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University reviewed this event and published a report on their findings. They deduced that the damage was more consistent with F2 winds. From the report, “Investigation of the storm scenes revealed that the wind speeds which caused the observed damage were close to those usually associated with the F2 damage scale because of: (1) the basic design wind speed of the area, (2) the type of construction, (3) the quality of construction, and (4) the relatively high translational speed of the storm. Accounting for this criteria, the strongest damage caused by the Tuscaloosa Tornado can be explained by wind speeds corresponding to an F2 storm. Furthermore, the loss of life in this wind event is related to the type and quality of construction found in the damaged area.”
The NWS survey stated, “This tornado was rated an F4 on the Fujita Scale for tornado intensity. Tornado intensity varied along the path with considerable F2 and F3 damage in the area from just west of SR 69 to US 82 in the Hinton Place and Hillcrest Meadows areas as well as the Bear Creek area. It was also in these areas where pockets of F4 destruction occurred.”
A photo made its way to many newspapers after this event occurred. It was taken by Michael E. Palmer of the Tuscaloosa News. It shows Michael Harris carrying the body of an unconscious six-year-old girl from her damaged mobile home. He rescued her from the rubble. That little girl is now a young woman with a family of her own. Her name, Whitney Crowder Daly. Whitney lost her father and baby brother that horrible day in 2000. Her brother was the youngest victim pictured above in this summary. Whitney reached out to Meteorologist James Spann to share with folks how she is doing now and shared a picture of her new family. Here is his post:
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