ATHENS-City and Limestone County employees immediately responded after a tornado hit Athens on Saturday night and
continue working today.
According to the National Weather Service, an EF1 tornado hit Athens at 11:15 p.m. and stayed on the ground
until 11:20 p.m. Estimated peak winds reached 100 mph, and the path length was 3.87 miles and 160 yards
wide.
“Thankfully, there were no injuries or fatalities,” Mayor Ronnie Marks said. “If it had hit during business hours,
we would probably have had injuries and possibly even fatalities. HVAC units, metal roofs and other debris were
scattered throughout the downtown area and a path along the railroad tracks to Elm Street.”
Marks commended city and county crews for their determination to cleanup debris and repair utility damage.
“I saw our crews working throughout Saturday evening and throughout the day Sunday and are working today,”
he said. “Several businesses provided meals and water for workers, and because our linemen needed to stay
on site, several of our City Hall employees and I took food and water to them. I appreciate the community and
our own employees supporting each other. The crews got a majority of the area cleared in a short amount of
time.”
Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly said the city and county crews coordinated well and
attributed that to their desire to see the community thrive.
“Our employees always work well and lend a hand however it’s needed to get things back in operation,” Daly
said. “Crews from the county and city are out again today working together, and that’s just how we do things.”
Marks and Daly said they appreciate EMA, the businesses, other municipalities and counties, and our local
organizations such as the Athens-Limestone Chamber of Commerce and Athens Main Street, for supporting
cleanup efforts and offering to send help, if needed.
Marks made a proclamation of emergency conditions for the City of Athens this morning and requested
Limestone County EMA Director Eddie Gilbert to implement the agency’s emergency powers as provided by law.
Here is a summary of damage noted, as of Dec. 30:
Athens Utilities: 10 to 12 utility poles were damaged. Over 2,000 customers were without power at the peak of
outage. Utilities restored all power outages to all but 62 outages by Sunday night. Everyone is back up today
except for businesses with major damage.
Public Works: Street Department estimates about a dozen businesses on The Square sustained damage.
Buildings along the path between Sanderfer Road, downtown and Elm Street also sustained damage. Veterans
Park and the Alabama Veterans Museum sustained damage. Old Gas Dept. buildings on Clinton Street are
damaged and likely will be torn down. Some houses and apartments along the path sustained damage,
including a home owned by Athens State University that sustained damage from a fallen tree.
Crews are working to get Pryor Street around the railroad tracks cleaned up, are working on McClellan Street
and are working on the Pecan Park parking lot downtown. Crews will work to clear stopped up drainage pipes
as well.
Approximately 10 to 12 trees were down that impacted roads from Nuclear Plant Road to streets along the path.
Public Building Damage: Fire Station No. 3 near Steelcase, the Athens Utilities Customer Accounts building
on Jefferson Street and the old bank building across from City Hall have all reported damage.
Building Dept.: Inspections are underway, and Utilities will wait to reconnect some of the downtown businesses
until those inspections are complete. Most of the damage is roof damage and broken glass from flying debris.
Several HVAC units were turned over on roofs or blown off of roofs. Buildings with roof damage also got rain
and have water damage. At least two buildings are a total loss, the brick warehouse on Pryor Street that had the
Veterans mural, and one of Persell Lumber’s buildings. CEI Bookstore, which lost a roof but still has its frame, is
still being assessed.
Closures: Pryor Street around the Veterans Museum, The Square and Pecan Park remain closed but should
open sometime today. Athens Police will keep Washington Street on The Square closed until further notice
because of its extensive damage and the need for repair companies to access the area.
Sanitation: Crews have picked up most of the debris from public areas, and sanitation will run as scheduled this
week.
Offers to help: Limestone County EMA is documenting the damage to see if the area qualifies for aid. Groups
that want to offer help should contact EMA, which is also coordinating any relief efforts. EMA’s office number is
256-262-2631.
