Moundville Residents Share Tornado Experiences, Begin Recovery

Many residents in Moundville are picking up the pieces after an EF-1 tornado damaged their homes and businesses last week.

Residents in the Waterbury subdivision in Moundville experienced damage from the tornado on Wednesday afternoon. Bianca Wells was at her aunt's house when the tornado hit. Wells said that her aunt had moved into the house just a few days before the storm.

"It was just like a big loud boom that came through, but it was real quick," Wells said.

Wells also suffered damage to her vehicle. During the storm, most of the windows on her car were broken. The front windshield was left intact, but the rest of the windows were busted.

She said that not having her car would impact her life significantly and make it difficult for her to get to her job at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance.

Kimberly Archibald also lives in the Waterbury subdivision and was also home when the storm hit.

"I just got home actually, and as soon as I got home like, the lights went out, we got in the closet, and then it just sounded like a train," Archibald said. "It was just real loud for probably about five minutes and then just complete silence, but it was scary."

She said that while there wasn't any damage done to her house, her backyard fence was completely gone.

She didn't suffer any damage to her car because it wasn't with her at the time, but her mother's car was significantly damaged.

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"I can't go anywhere because I was using her car," Archibald said. "My car broke down, so I'm just completely out of transportation. So it's going to be hard trying to get my kids around and get back and forth to work."

Dianne Stewart lives on the same street as Archibald and recounted her experience when the tornado hit.

"It was horrifying," Stewart said. "Really and truly, it happened so fast. It got really, really dark. And then it sounded like it was hailing outside. And then it was over. And I really didn't know what had happened until I came out of my bathroom and went to the window and looked outside, and all the fences were gone."

Stewart said she was "really blessed" that the only damage her property sustained was to her roof and fences.

Parker Neighbors works for WW Restoration, LLC as an independent contractor and was inspecting Stewart's roof.

"She's got some pretty good wind damage up there. It's more on the fence and the side of the house. Her whole fence got knocked down," Neighbors said.

Neighbors said that the repair difficulty depends on where the damage is on the roof but is confident it can be fixed.

Other individuals in the Moundville community suffered significant damage as well. Bobbi Harris was heartbroken at the destruction of her late mother's home.

Her mother, who passed away last year, lived in the home for over 20 years.

Harris said that she shed "lots of tears" as she and her husband began to clean up the area Thursday morning. She added they plan to tear down what is left of the demolished home because, at this point, it's her only option.

"It's destroyed," Harris said. "There's no fixing it."

Harris admitted that this was one of the only things her mother left her.

Communities in West Alabama are working to rebuild and recover. Area leaders spoke about their plans and progress last week; to read that article, click here.