East Birmingham Damage Pictures

Really good pictures ---WOW ! Thanks for sharing Chuck .

Susan , I feel as though I owe you an apology mam , after seeing these pics. . Was not quite that way where I am .

Maybe this "Barry" can be the next victim of mother nature so he can " let it go " and stop complaining for being so fortunate . So good to know that more & more people are starting to 'get it' about natures wrath and 'yaws' dedication to the severe wx. . Always have to have one or two to be one of those ....... .

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wow......

hope no one was hurt.

some people will never understand that while it may not get bad where they are, it is wreaking havoc on someone else.

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Wow, more pictures to prove this wasn't a bust, even in the Bham metro area. Did anyone else notice the sign for the Christian school that listed April 8 as a school clean-up day?

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Barry get a life man we had real bad weather last night and very early this morning. I guess you can't cry WOLF WOLF now.

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What did W J Christian school know that others did not? Notice that they had already planned a cleanup day for today!

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I think the forecast was right on, IF WE LIVED IN TENNESSEE. Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful that we didn't have to deal with killer tornadoes, but all we heard for two days was "this is going to be a major event with a strong chance for long lived super cell tornadoes over north central ALABAMA". I've seen the damage photos from all over Birmingham, but according to this blog the damage was caused by straight line winds. I find it hard to believe that in 2006 we don't have enough technology to at least have an idea where the worst of the weather is going. How much courage does it take to stop the "dooms day" forecast and say "Well, we were a few hundred miles off on this one"? How many "long lived" tornadoes occured over central Alabama last night? I'm no weather man, but I'll bet you a Coke there were none! Drum me out of the weather family if you want, but if we continue to hear "violent weather is coming this afternoon" as the sun shines on a beautiful day, people are going to write you off and will quit listening. And one day, that going to get somebody hurt or worse.

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Umm.. in response to A. Hater.. straight line winds can cause just as much damage as a tornado. I don't know where you get the idea that if there are no tornadoes then the whole prediction of bad storms was a bust.

Never ceases to amaze me - usually people are happy when disaster and tragedy fail to strike but in weather forecasting if there isn't widespread destruction and loss of life then someone out there will start crying about it being a bust!! Please be thankful that we didn't have any deaths and that we didn't have any long track tornadoes - straight line winds are more than enough for me, thanks!

And, by the way - I'd rather be warned and it turn out to be less of a violent storm than not warned at all. If you choose not to listen anymore, then that's your choice.

Thanks to James and all the 33/40 team!

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Well, Barry and A. Hater, I'm from Haleyville and you're right- the news is not reporting the truth from up here... There's a lot MORE damage than has been shown on any of the news casts. That thing may have been an F1 but it tore up a lot of town and several houses out of town. We're very lucky we had no injuries or fatalities. Could that be because of the EXCELLENT weather coverage yesterday? Probably so, if you didn't know we were expecting bad weather you'd have to been living under a rock somewhere.

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"Barry" and "A. Hater" should have been looking more closely at the forecast tools being used by James and the crew. The SPC absolutely nailed this one with their High Risk area; their 8 am issue put the Memphis corridor right in the bullseye. I'll bet those people were not disappointed by the ample warnings they received.

But northern Alabama was also in that risk zone, and any good meteorologist would have to take that into consideration. James and his team use the tools to make forecasts; they aren't just making this stuff up.

And I've read the reports of the disgruntled parents who were miffed about having to pick their children up from school; this baffles me. The officials made the decision to avoid any possibility of having loaded schoolbuses on the road during a severe-weather outbreak. They were on top of the situation.

There are always bored people who don't have enything else to do but second guess, but second-guessing and accusing the 33/40 team of crying "Wolf" in this case is way out of line.



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A Hater I would imagine the NWS and SPC runs off tax money to atleast an extent so why don't you put your money where your mouth is and contribute to society. There was a high risk for long track damaging tornadoes Large hail and high straight line winds. There wasn't a guarentee, Although we didn't see the 2 F3's or greater in central alabama, we did have Numerous tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds along with flooding. And I heard from every meteorologist that sometimes these things don't come together. There are just way to many variables in weather to make guarntees. You are willing to complain but are you willing to contribute?


Barry the same thing goes for you.

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Hey everyone , notice these to morons "Bary" & " A. Hater" ( wonder if he even like himselves ) don't even have the scupels to give a real name or location... again , they are probably writing this to get a rise out of us people who understand and give a dang . Actually , I got a better laugh out of Mr. Hater talking about his magical crystal ball and how apparently he must have seen what specificly what was going to take place and just did not wish to share it with James & the NWS since I'm fairly sure that the ' this is EXACTLY what is going to take place technology ' hasn't become about yet . Have any of you all seen it yet ? I sure haven't . Just maybe , Mr. Hater can bring it on down from the hole he is in next time and help these hard working people out who are trying their best to "forecast " . And again , hopefully the next big storm system can visit this person so he can have something to really think about . Its just like dragonkingcarl said, the media just can't do justice at what you see from the naked eye when it comes to the destruction of a significant and / or violent tornado ....I know all too well . As far as Mr. Hater considering not listening to these weatherguys in the future , go ahead , I dare you , why do you listen now , because you know they know what they are doing and if you turn your back it will probably happen to you and then you don't have anyone but yourself to blame . And that would be really funny .

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First of all, any of you who want to call me a moron need to take a look at yourselves before you open your traps. Second, anyone who thinks it would be "funny" for someone to get blown away in a storm because the weather guys actually got a storm prediction right for a change has a special place in Hades waiting for them. As a customer, (and that's what we all are- customers) I demand better forecasting or at least an amendment when the timing is off. That's all.

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You "demand" better forecasting? Get a life. The forecasters did as good a job as they could based on the technology they have/had available. Considering the fact that only God controls the timing of the weather, James and company had absolutely no control over the speed of the event. Was your day really that screwed up? Maybe you had to take time off to go pick your child/children up but again, that was a school board decision based on National Weather Service (not ABC 33/40) data that was made in the early morning hours of Friday.

Forecasting is a science but as with any science, a certain portion of it is "guestimation". Instead of being on such a high horse, why not be thankful the weather wasn't as bad as feared? Find a constructive outlet for your energy, grab a chainsaw and head to Gardendale. I'm sure they could use the help.

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Actually we are not their customers in that way. James does not have to do what he does in going out on a limb and spending the time that he does in trying to help us, just look at the other 2 stations, all he has to do is give us a "forecast" on the 5 ,6 & 10 news . I never said it would be funny for you to get hit by a storm , I said it was funny how apparently you had a magical crystal ball to see EXACTLY what was going to happen when in the case this is what you would like our experts to do which is impossible until it for the most part happens . And you just said yourself that our weatherguys got the prediction right so again , be thankfull YOU did not get hit , and stop complaining so much about the impossible . Demand better forecasting , you can't get any better in what they gave us or maybe you can show them how to do it . I do NOT want anyone to get hit by a tornado , yes I did say maybe some folks need a visit from a storm becasue they think unless it directly involves THEM that NOTHING happened, so maybe they need to be satisfied in that way and be given something to gripe about . ... Demand better forecasting ?...I'm still laughing at that .

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The complaint of "We're customers and deserve better" is really only valid when there is something better to be given.

I don't know where you were looking, but I heard the ammendments as the storms shifted paths, and I heard James update us as to times and places and locations.

Asking someone to provide "better service" based on "better technology" that you admit you are not sure exists and obviously know little about is rather inane on more than one level. Everyone does the best with what they have.

And I'd like you to tell me if you think we'd have a 0 casualty report for the state if people had been out and about in 50 mph straightline winds and driving through golf ball sized hail. It was a friday night, and yet you could see by the skycams that most of the roads were all but empty compared to how they usually are. Considering the track record for accidents in even the mildest rain, I am imagining we avoided a lot of injuries by staying inside and being prepared.

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Sorry!!!! Didn't mean to get the "James' gang" all worked up.

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I will say this....

My son came in from his father's house last night and informed me that his dad's car, which was at the shop for repairs, was totaled when a tree at the repair shop fell on it. This was as far south as Pelham.

Must have been some wind...........

Good thing no one was in the car.

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Maybe I don't have the "scuples" as John T. so eloquently put it but, speaking for someone who lives in Hoover AL and not Tennessee, I can say that the severe weather forecast was not a bust, but the timing and location was. All day I heard that Alabama would be under the gun starting around 3PM....10 1/2 hours later I saw my first sign of a storm. Letting schools out at 1 was a joke, not to mention the economic hit the city of Birmingham took from everybody leaving work. All it boils down to these days is a threat of people getting a lawsuit filed against them if by chance severe weather did happen while kids were in school or people are at work. All this descision did was prevent people from paying attention the next time a severe weather threat is eminent. As the storms became more linear, it was clear to me that this was no April 8th situation and, at least for the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa area, could have been handled with a moderate risk forecast.

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