McKenzie brushed by tornado

BY BRUCE BRANUM

The Greenville Standard

 

The Town of McKenzie narrowly escaped a brush with a small tornado late Sunday afternoon, Jan. 9

According to McKenzie Mayor Lester Odom the town and residents in the area were lucky.

He noted several residences within town limits and a few outside the limits had damages.

Among those was Randy Smith on Huggins Road who had damage to eight of his 10 chicken houses.

Also, Brandon and Tiffany Sanders on Faust Road lost a small storage shed, and Gary and Tara Corley, owners of Corley’s Hardware in McKenzie had damage to their carports on Hayes Road.

Another mobile home on Garden Road received minor damage from the tornado as it swept over the residence.

No major damage was reported but the tornado did knock down a number of trees and power lines in the area.

The first tornado warning was issued from the National Weather Service out of Mobile shortly after 4:30 p.m. as strong line of thunderstorms neared Butler County from an approaching cold front.

A trained storm spotter first noted a tornado about eight miles north of Evergreen moving east.

Its track took it across the southern town limits of McKenzie barely missing the Dollar General and McKenzie water tank when it crossed Alabama Highway 55 and proceeded east.

Damage in other areas of the county was mostly related to downed trees across roadways from strong winds.