Tornado touched down in Lomax
Published 11:24 am Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A tornado touched down Wednesday morning in Lomax, the National Weather Service confirmed.
The twister packed winds between 60-70 miles per hour, according to the Chilton County Emergency Management Agency.
The tornado ranked EF-0, the weakest category, on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
The storm touched down around 10:55 a.m. and was about 30 yards wide, according to officials at the EMA.
No injuries were reported and damage was limited to mainly blown over trees, but one shed had its tin roof blown off in Lomax.
“We are fortunate it didn’t injure anyone and we didn’t have more damage,” said Bill Collum, director of Chilton County EMA.
Police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters spotted at least two funnel clouds Wednesday morning over Chilton County.
Clanton Police Chief Brian Stilwell said he saw the tornado on the ground between U.S. 31 and Interstate 65 from his vantage point on Yellowleaf Drive.
Tornadoes near the ground and funnel clouds were also spotted later on the Interstate and close to Cedar Grove Church and Chilton County 43 in Jemison.
Sirens were sounded several minutes after the touch down, at the request of Stilwell.
Chilton County was not under a tornado warning or watch anytime Wednesday.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said radar never indicated a twister.
“There is no information on radar that would lead us to believe there was a tornado on the ground,” said meteorologist Scott Unger.
Several Chilton County schools went into their tornado warning procedures Wednesday.