A History of Alabama's Deadliest Tornadoes: Disaster in Dixie

by Kelly Kazek

Overview

Journey just west of America's infamous Tornado Alley to Alabama, home to some of the deadliest tornadoes of the past century. These twisters remain etched in the collective memory of the people, from the 1908 Dixie Tornado, regarded as one of the most brutal tornadoes in U.S. history, to the 1998 Birmingham Tornado, the most expensive twister in Alabama's history. Discover how the 1932 Deep South Tornadoes resulted in 268 fatalities and millions of dollars in damage, and read the terrifying account of the 1977 Smithfield Tornadoes, which rocked this Birmingham suburb with as many as six twisters in a one-hour span. Join local journalist Kelly Kazek as she shares the tales of these natural disasters and the hardy Alabamians who endured them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596299115
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	05/31/2010
Series:	Disaster
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Kelly Kazek is managing editor of the News Courier in Athens, Alabama. In her more than two decades as a journalist, she has won more than 120 national and state press awards. She is the author of two other books, Fairly Odd Mother: Musings of a Slightly Off Southern Mom, a collection of her syndicated humor columns, and Images of America: Athens and Limestone County. She lives in Madison, Alabama, with her daughter Shannon, their beagle Lucy and cats Mad Max and Luvey.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Alabama, State of Chaos: A History of Deadly Tornadoes 15

Chapter 2 1908 Dixie Super Outbreak: "Unprecedented in the History of the State" 25

Chapter 3 May 26 and 27,1924: Two Days, Two Tornadoes, Two Families Gone 35

Chapter 4 1932 Deep South Outbreak: A Family Torn Apart 43

Chapter 5 1974 Super Outbreak: "Black Wednesday" 52

Chapter 6 November 15, 1989: "This Is Not Natural" 71

Chapter 7 March 27, 1994: "She Sang, She Danced, She Painted, She Climbed" 88

Chapter 8 Birmingham in 1956, 1977 and 1998: "Whole Communities Were Wiped Out" 96

Chapter 9 Freaks of Nature: Strange but True Tornado Tales 115

Chapter 10 How to Be Safe in a Storm 122

Sources 125

About the Author 127