Remembering The December 16, 2000 Tornado

25 years ago, today lives were lost, families were changed and property was damaged and destroyed by what was classified then as an F-4 tornado. Eleven people died, 144 were injured and $12 million in property damage left in the 18 mile long, 750 yards wide track. It was first sighted by storms spotters moving across Foster. It then cut a swath on the ground from the Englewood and Taylorville communities to just past Cottondale.

The majority of the fatalities, six months to 83 years old, took place in the Bear Creek Trailer Park where nine residents were killed by the 260mph winds of the massive storm.

The December 16, 2000, twister was part of a major outbreak of 24 tornadoes that hit the Southeast, from Mississippi to North Carolina. The Tuscaloosa tornado was the most destructive and deadly of them all, it was also the strongest tornado to hit the State of Alabama in the month of December since 1950. It was one of 12 that struck Alabama that day with a tornado in Geneva, in south Alabama, damaging 100 homes, destroying five mobile homes and killing one person.

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ABC3340 Tower Cam and Storm Spotters Saved Lives

The Tuscaloosa tornado was one of the first to be broadcast live from ABC3340's tower cam. The station's chief meteorologist James Spann describes that day on the Alabama Weather Channel's website. "There was an excellent warning for the tornado; a warning was issued at 12:40 p.m. on that deadly Saturday, 14 minutes before the twister first touched down in a rural area southwest of Tuscaloosa near the Black Warrior River. The tornado crossed Alabama 69 near Shelton State Community College and Hillcrest High School, destroying a shopping center and many homes. The Bear Creek Trailer Park was hit, where many of the deaths occurred. The tornado moved to the east/northeast, south of Skyland Boulevard, and finally crossed I-59/20 near the Cottondale exit.

"We caught the tornado live on our tower camera in Tuscaloosa; we were able to show live video of the twister on ABC 33/40 for almost 10 minutes as it rolled through the southern part of the city of Tuscaloosa." Spann wrote. " Our StormChaser van was heavily damaged in the storm; John Oldshue and his photographer had to rush into a Hampton Inn to protect themselves as the tornado passed right over their location. The manager of the motel has all of the guests lined up in a hallway on the lowest floor, and nobody was injured there."

This reporter was Deputy Director of the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency that fateful day. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, as James wrote, did a tremendous job, not only that day but in the days before. The meteorologists there had issued a heads up to the potential for severe weather as early as five days before the tornado outbreak occurred, calling it a potential "red letter day for tornadoes".

The trained storms spotters and the tower cam coverage were the difference that day. Amateur radio operators deployed toward the approaching storm cell gave plenty of warning and then turned to assisting victims once the tornado had passed. The tower cam coverage convinced viewers in the path, that there was indeed a significant threat to life and property.

2000 Tornado Overshadowed by 2011 Record Outbreak

Unfortunately, 11 years later Tuscaloosa was struck by another bigger, even more deadly tornado on April 27, 2011. It was part of a record outbreak of more than 200 twisters. But for those who experienced the tragedy of December 16, 2000, that day will always be burned into our memories.

Perhaps no image captured the heartbreak of that day that a photo by Tuscaloosa News Photographer Michael Palmer. It showed Micheal Harris carrying 6-year-old Whitney Crowder out of the Bear Creek Trailer Park. The photo was taken not long after Whitney's father and baby brother had perished in their mobile home. The photo made front page in newspapers around the world.

Because it was just over a week before Christmas other newspaper photos and tv video showed destroyed Christmas trees and presents. Those images tugged at the heartstrings of people everywhere who donated money and gifts to replace those that were lost. Toys are us even sent an 18-wheeler loaded with replacement toys.

A Federal Disaster Declaration was issued, property was repaired and rebuilt but the impacts on lives remain to this day, 24 years later.

A Federal Disaster Declaration was issued, property was repaired and rebuilt but the impacts on lives remain to this day, 24 years later.

A Federal Disaster Declaration was issued, and it took a while for the impacted area to recover. But while most of the physical scars are gone, the memories of that day a quarter century ago linger.