Sand Mountain Reporter

Parts of Marshall and Etowah counties received damage Thursday when a sudden summer thunderstorm raced through the area.

Straight line winds uprooted trees, snapped power lines and power poles late Thursday morning with Boaz and Sardis City receiving the heaviest damage.

City officials and road crews were dispatched to U.S. 431 and Alabama 205 after trees fell snapping power lines and bringing down more trees. A power pole was broken in half, with the top part swaying overhead as it remained attached to the power lines.

Volunteer fire crews from Mountainboro, Sand Valley and Ivalee provided mutual aid to Boaz and Sardis City crews in cleaning up downed trees throughout the afternoon.

Tom Kines, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather, said based upon reports received by his agency, the damage was caused by straight-line winds, not a small tornado.

“When straight-line winds hit, the damage is all in a linear pattern. If it would have been a tornado, the damage would have occurred in more of a circular motion,” Kines said.

Boaz Police chief Terry Davis said his department received several reports of damage and trees down on Collier, Bassett and Davis streets, Summerville Road and Alabama 205.

“The good Lord was looking out for a lot of people yesterday,” Davis said Friday. “We had a report of a tree down on a car in the Mount Vernon Homes area. Luckily it didn’t actually hit the car.”

Davis said the city saw heavy rainfall that, luckily for residents, “drained off pretty quickly.”

In Sardis City, damage was reported on Church and Gamble streets, among others.

In Albertville, a tree was knocked onto a home owned by Robert Self on Oak Street. Luckily, neighbors said, no one was injured as the tree broke through the home’s roof, into a bedroom.

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Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

1603 Progress Drive
Albertville, Alabama 35950

Tel: 256-840-3000 | Email

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