Alabama recorded its worst weather disaster on March 21, 1932, as two waves of violent tornadoes tore through the state in the mid-afternoon and early evening. The outbreak was part of a larger system that spawned 36 tornadoes across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and beyond. Alabama suffered the greatest devastation, with 31 tornadoes touching down in the state, 10 of which were rated F4.
One of the worst tornadoes roared across the northwestern edge of Tuscaloosa, crossed the Black Warrior River, and devastated downtown Northport around 4 p.m. Witnesses described it as a giant, white ice cream cone. Our very own dearly departed J.B. Elliott wrote the poignant public information statement on the old NOAA Weather Wire in 1989…
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
745 AM CST TUE MAR 21 1989
…ALABAMA’S WORST TORNADO DAY…A LOOK AT THE GREAT STORM
OF MARCH 21 1932…57 YEARS AGO…
MARCH 20 1932 DAWNED WARM AND SPRINGLIKE ACROSS ALABAMA. BY
AFTERNOON…TEMPERATURES REACHED THE 80S IN MOST OF THE STATE.
IT WAS A SUNDAY. THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS FEATURED A FRONT-PAGE
STORY SALUTING THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING…SCHEDULED FOR 154 PM
THAT SAME DAY.
SAID THE NEWS…”SPRING WILL BRING THOUGHTS OF LOVE TO
THE YOUNG MEN AND THOUGHTS OF NEW CLOTHES TO WOMEN.”
THEY CONTINUED…”BASEBALL IS IN THE AIR…NEW CLOTHES
ARE ON THE STREETS…EASTER IS ONLY A WEEK AWAY…AND
SPRING IS ON HER THRONE.”
BUT DISASTER LURKED IN THE WINGS.
.
AND NEXT DAY IT HIT…DEADLY TORNADOES…THE GREATEST
CATASTROPHE EVER TO HIT ALABAMA.
OFFICIAL WEATHER BUREAU TABULATIONS SAY THAT 268 PERSONS
WERE KILLED IN ALABAMA WITH 1874 INJURED.
IT WAS AROUND 330 IN THE AFTERNOON ON THAT FATEFUL MONDAY
WHEN THE FIRST BLACK FUNNELS CAME POUNDING TO THE GROUND
IN THE DEMOPOLIS…LINDEN…FAUNSDALE AREAS OF WEST CENTRAL
ALABAMA. DEATH CAME TO 36 PERSONS IN MARENGO COUNTY…136
WERE INJURED…AND 180 HOMES WERE DESTROYED.
THEN CAME THE DISASTER AT TUSCALOOSA AND NORTHPORT.
A CLOCK AT THE DEMOLISHED TUSCALOOSA COUNTRY CLUB STOPPED
AT 401 PM CST…30 MINUTES AFTER THE FIRST STRIKES NEAR
DEMOPOLIS.
AFTER STRIKING THE WESTERN END OF TUSCALOOSA…THE DEATH-DEALING
TORNADO PLOWED ACROSS THE WARRIOR RIVER INTO NORTHPORT. WITNESSES
SAID IT WAS SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CREAM CONE AND WAS SO FILLED WITH
DEBRIS THAT IT HAD AN ERIE WHITE GLOW RESEMBLING A HEAVY SNOW
SHOWER MOVING IN ON THE CITY.
BUT IT WAS NOT SNOW.
THIRTY EIGHT PERSONS DIED IN NORTHPORT AND 250 WERE INJURED.
DRUID CITY HOSPITAL IN TUSCALOOSA WAS QUICKLY FILLED TO
CAPACITY. THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA GYM WAS PRESSED INTO
SERVICE AS AN EMERGENCY ADDITIONAL HOSPITAL.
REPORTED THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS…”IT LOOKED AS IF NORTHPORT
HAD BEEN BOMBED.”
ONLY ONE HOUR LATER…STILL MORE DISASTER. A PATH OF DESTRUCTION
20 MILES LONG WAS CUT ACROSS CULLMAN COUNTY. IT LEFT 23 DEAD
AND 300 INJURED WITH THE FAIRVIEW COMMUNITY HARDEST HIT.
THE TRAGIC DAY CONTINUED TO UNFOLD. TORNADOES STRUCK IN ALABAMA
FROM 330 IN THE AFTERNOON TO 700 OCLOCK IN THE EVENING. A
BROAD AREA RECEIVED HEAVY DAMAGE…GENERALLY FROM DEMOPOLIS
ON THE SOUTHWEST TO THE SCOTTSBORO…STEVENSON…PAINT ROCK
AREA IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA.
CHILTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA WAS HIT EXTREMELY HARD WITH
58 PERSONS KILLED. THE UNION GROVE COMMUNITY NEAR JEMISON
WAS LAID TO WASTE. DOCTORS AND NURSES FROM MONTGOMERY AND
BIRMINGHAM WORKED ALL NIGHT BY LANTERN AND FLASHLIGHT TO
RELIEVE THE WIDESPREAD SUFFERING.
IN CLAY COUNTY…ONE OF THE TORNADOES REMAINED ON THE
GROUND FOR A DISTANCE OF 30 MILES…CUTTING A PATH 400
YARDS WIDE. A NEW AUTOMOBILE WAS CARRIED THROUGH THE AIR
FOR A DISTANCE OF 400 YARDS. TWELVE PERSONS DIED IN CLAY
COUNTY AND 200 WERE INJURED. AFTER THE STORM…THERE WERE
PEOPLE LIVING IN THE CLAY COUNTY COURTHOUSE.
…ODD HAPPENINGS WERE TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION. AT COLUMBIANA
IN SHELBY COUNTY…WHERE 18 PERSONS DIED…36 EGGS WERE
UNBROKEN ON A KITCHEN TABLE EVEN THOUGH THE HOUSE WAS
DEMOLISHED AND THE TORNADO EVEN SUCKED THE DRAWER OUT
OF THE TABLE.
ALABAMA GOVERNOR B. M. MILLER IMMEDIATELY ISSUED A PROCLAMATION
CALLING ON ALL ALABAMA RESIDENTS TO RISE TO THE OCCASION AND
HELP THOSE IN DISTRESS. THEN HE TRAVELED THE STATE FOR DAYS TRYING
TO VISIT ALL THE DAMAGED AREAS TO OFFER HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
.
NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MANY TORNADOES HIT ALABAMA ON THAT
TRAGIC DAY IN 1932. IN PERRY COUNTY…MARION WAS STRUCK TWICE
IN THREE HOURS…AND 23 PERSONS DIED IN THE COUNTY.
NEAR FAUNSDALE…ONE OF THE FIRST TOWNS HIT…THE OWNER
OF AN 800 ACRE PLANTATION FOUND A HORSE COLLAR…A DEAD
PIG…AND THE BODY OF A THREE YEAR OLD CHRILD…ALL JAMMED
TOGETHER IN A HOLLOW TREE STUMP.
IT WAS TRULY ALABAMA’S WORST DISASTER…THAT SPRING DAY OF
MARCH 21 1932…THAT STARTED OUT SO PLEASANT.
The deadliest tornado of the day killed 49 people along a 60-mile path through central Alabama, with 38 fatalities occurring in Chilton County. A second F4 followed an hour later, just eight miles southeast of the first, killing 31 more. Another F4 struck Sylacauga around 7 p.m., claiming 41 lives, while an F4 tornado in Columbiana killed 14.
As night fell, the storms intensified, shifting into the Tennessee Valley. A violent tornado family touched down in Morgan County and traveled 75 miles into Tennessee, killing 38 people along its path. By the end of the night, Alabama’s toll stood at an astonishing 268 dead and over 1,800 injured, making it the deadliest tornado day in state history.
Even weeks after the disaster, the storm’s bizarre effects were still being discovered. One week later, a live chicken was found inside a dresser drawer in Jackson County, reportedly having arrived there as the tornado lifted the entire dresser into the air.
Category: Alabama’s Weather, ALL POSTS, Met 101/Weather History, Social Media
