Birmingham Tornado
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The Birmingham Tornado was the tornado event that occurred on April 8, 1998. It was one of only two F5 tornadoes that year. The other hit in Lawrence County, Tennessee on April 16, as part of the same outbreak as the Nashville tornadoes.
Wednesday, April 8 had been a relatively active day for severe weather. Early that morning a tornado hit in Ludowici, Georgia killing a 13-year-old girl, her uncle, and woman who lived across the street from them. Another tornado hit in Pembroke, Georgia and wiped out the Wilson estates. One man was killed and 16 were injured.
At around 7:30 P.M., a tornado cut a 31-mile swath through nine Birmingham suburbs. Over 1,000 homes were destroyed. One young boy died nine days after this event from head injuries. His father is now paralyzed from the waist down, and his mother suffered severe injuries.
Another mother and her two children were killed when hundreds of pounds of debris was blown onto them.
The roof of The Rock Creek Church of God was blown off and several cars were blown 500 feet into a ravine. The church was turned into a trauma center.
Thirty-two people were killed in this tornado, making it the seventh deadliest in Alabama history, killing one more person than in a tornado that hit Alabama on March 21, 1932.
Spring tornado season, hurricanes, and El Niño
The severity of the spring tornadoes of the year is mainly due to the big 1997-98 El Nino event. More than 1,400 tornadoes were reported in 1998, the second most on record. The second biggest season of tornadoes on record was 2003. 1998 and 2003 also were the two busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons in recent memory with 14 and 16 named storms, respectively.
See also: List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks