Mother Nature strikes again

Madison County was battered by Mother Nature yet again on Friday as a powerful storm system plowed across North Alabama.

According to Madison County EMA officials, preliminary counts say 25 homes were destroyed in Madison County Friday by at least two tornadoes (one rated EF-1 the other EF-2).

One of the hardest hit areas was the Jacobs Landing sub-division in Meridianville, which is only a few hundred yards from the middle school of the same name.

The storms caught many Madison County residents off guard Friday morning, (but NWS officials believe as many as six separate tornadoes hit on Friday) destroying homes and re-opening wounds from the tornadoes nearly one year ago. Some areas that were hit on Friday were still recovering from last year.

One of the hardest hit areas was the Jacobs Landing sub-division in Meridianville, which is only a few hundred yards from the middle school of the same name.

Another area hit hard was the Yarbrough road area. Buckhorn High School took a direct hit from the EF-1 where a block building used by the ROTC students adjacent to the stadium collapsed.  Several portions of the roof of the high school were torn off.  Several cars in the parking lot were moved, twisted and damaged with some windows being blown out.

Sparkman High School and Ninth Grade Academy were also grazed. An 18-wheeler near Sparkman was blown onto its side on Jeff Road. The driver was OK. At the time of the tornadoes, there were no formal watches in place; the first tornado watch was not issued until 9:30 a.m. after the first tornado had lifted.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville is continuing to perform damage surveys and will have a final report in the next few days.  Seven sustained injuries and were taken to the hospitals in Madison and Huntsville. A Huntsville Hospital Spokeswoman said by Friday night, everyone had been released.