Sand Mountain Reporter

The National Weather Service office in Huntsville is hopeful new information will be gleaned from Sunday’s deadly tornado.

The official report shows a tornado touched down just south of Gin Road in the Asbury community.

“A mobile home was completely destroyed with the contents blown 40 yards and the frame blown 60 yards,” a weather service report provided by meteorologist Chris Darden said.

The storm killed Janice Dale Salter, 58, who was thrown from the Gin Road trailer. Her husband, Gary Wayne Salter, was in critical condition in the Huntsville Hospital surgical intensive care unit Wednesday.

A 22-year-old grandson in the trailer with them did not sustain serious injuries.

The weather service said the tornado tracked to the northeast, destroying one large chicken house and damaging several others. Many chickens and two cows were killed.

Several barns and outbuildings were damaged as the tornado moved forward, but it weakened as it continued to move northeast toward Asbury Road.

The tornado caused minor tree damage before lifting off the ground near Old Bethel Road.

Storm survey crews determined the tornado was an EF1 strength, with winds of 110 mph. By comparison, the Feb. 16, 1995, tornado that hit Arab was an EF3.

Five people died in Marshall County in that tornado, the last to cause deaths in the county.

Darden said the storm touched down at about 8:36 p.m. Sunday, but the tornado warning wasn’t issued until 8:45 p.m. He said the discrepancy came because of how rapidly the storm moved.

He said it was also difficult to see the tornado because its circulation developed so close to the ground.

Marshall County was placed under a severe thunderstorm warning at 8:15.

Darden said the weather service was hopeful that information developed from their investigation of this tornado could “help avoid similar situations in the future.”

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Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

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Albertville, Alabama 35950

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