3/1/07 NOW :IL/MO/KS/TN/KY/AL/AR/LA/TX

[Donald Giuliano]

Enterprise PD saying downtown Enterprise hit the hardest, major damage with injuries. wow

Given the velocity plots Jeff posted, I am hardly surprised. And having grown up near the area, in Central GA, I imagine their tornado preparations aren't the best, unless things have changed.

Speaking of Central GA, I see the radar there at Robins AFB is down for maintenance today, though it looks like they're working feverishly to get it back online. Yikes!

 

[rdale]

Are you saying they did let them out, or are you hoping that they let them out?

Per the IEMChat discussions, the students were being dismissed about 20 minutes prior to the tornado. NWS and TV mets tried to get that reversed so that kids weren't on the streets, not sure of the outcome.

 

[Jordan Hartley]

Another report of the tornado hitting the Enterprise Medical Center, no reports of injuries.

 

[Kevin Bowman]

the medical center in enterprise and the science wing of the high school, some kids are unaccounted for. No injuries so far at the medical center

 

[HAltschule]

Enterprise High School, AL: News station reporting that there are still kids in the school. News Photog. says the school did not collapse but there was significant damage to the science wing. Some students unaccounted for but they could be somewhere else.

Out of county ambulances are being requested to Enterprise. All off-duty Alabama State Troopers have been ordered to Enterprise, AL.

This does not sound good.

 

[Donald Giuliano]

Watching live video from WSFA.com. Ozark, AL mayor is saying his city is completely without power and that his emergency crews are responding to Enterprise, AL. He's stating that he has reports that Enterprise High School has been completely destroyed and that that surrounding houses are damaged. One possible consolation...hopefully...they let the kids out of school a couple of hours early....before the tornado struck.

If this is indeed true, we may have our first EF-5, since completely obliterating a well-built school is one of the criteria that can support an EF-5 rating.

**EDIT: Just saw Howard's new post regarding the school...given that the school is still there, though heavily damaged, I'd imagine that doesn't justify an EF-5 rating.

 

[rdale]

If the school didn't collapse, odds are good it wasn't completely obliterated, so no EF5. If GR2AE's algorithm matches up, it's a 2 or 3.

 

[Kevin Bowman]

If this is indeed true, we may have our first EF-5, since completely obliterating a well-built school is one of the criteria that can support an EF-5 rating.

according to the feed, there was no collapse, just damage

 

[HAltschule]

News Station Update: Live phoner with photog. from Enterprise, AL: Kids are walking around outside of the school. Some people are coming out of the high school on stretchers. Several parts of the roof of the school are gone. Power lines are down all over the place.

 

[J Kinkaid]

If the school didn't collapse, odds are good it wasn't completely obliterated, so no EF5. If GR2AE's algorithm matches up, it's a 2 or 3.

Rob can you post a screen shot from the time that you think the twister hit ?

Bham is now streaming live

http://mfile.akamai.com/23045/live/reflector:21932.asx

 

[Bobby Lang]

According to the Enterprise newspaper's website (I can't get the full article to pull though), a teacher reported, "[FONT=verdana,arial,sans-serif]the high school reported the school was heavily damaged and the roof collapsed. A number of students were injured."
Link
[/FONT]

 

[Jacque Tiegs]

From the Enterpise Ledger that the tornado was 800 yards wide, That there were serous injuries from the school

 

[Jordan Hartley]

Eyewitness did a phone interview on WSFA out of Montgomary, AL. He said that the tornado looked to be about 800 yrds wide as it passed through downtown Enterprise.

 

[HAltschule]

Viewer on Streaming news station reporting an "800 yard wide" tornado came right through downtown Enterprise with lots of debris. Numerous houses without roofs. Says destruction everywhere.

EDIT: Enterprise hospital rep says hospital is damaged and they are recevining numerous patients.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Not that I wouldn't doubt a violent tornado, but initial reports almost always seem to be a little more dire than things may be. I often hear "destroyed" for buildings that are de-roofed and has some outer-wall damage. I think people are shocked when they see significant damage, and it just seems that "destroyed" tends to be thrown about more freely than damage would, objectively, indicate.

Ugh, I just heard a person being interviewed on MSNBC, and they said only had a few seconds of warning. From what I see, the warning came out at 12:47pm, and radar timestamps show it moving through Enterprise from 1:10-1:15pm. That's a full 20+ minutes, which is pretty good lead time. People just don't pay attention to the warnings, then say they only had "seconds". A city official from Enterprise said sirens sounded several times before the tornado moved through.