Around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 1989, a tornado touched down near Madkin Mountain on Redstone Arsenal, southwest of Huntsville. The tornado moved northeast towards the heavily-populated Airport Road area, where it would destroy or damage 80 businesses, 3 churches, a dozen apartment buildings, and more than 1,000 cars. It moved on, climbing over Garth Mountain, demolishing Jones Valley Elementary School, and destroying 259 homes in the Jones Valley area. The tornado then moved out into eastern Madison County, where it damaged the equipment and maintenance headquarters of Commission District 2 as well as a state forestry office, destroyed 3 more homes, a volunteer fire department, several barns and sheds, and numerous electrical towers.
National Weather Service
All told, the tornado killed 21 people and injured 463. Rated an F4 on the Fujita Scale, it inflicted approximately $250 million in damage. (info obtained from National Weather Service-Huntsville website)
WAAY 31 will be looking back and remembering the events of that day on a very special edition of WAAY 31 Weekend News at 10 PM, Sunday, November 15, 2009. You can also take a look back at the events that evolved 20 years ago by clicking here and viewing historic video and news footage from WAAY 31. In addition, the Storm Force 31 weather team will be looking forward by debuting the latest in weather technology. They will also be providing you with a completely new perspective on the weather. Make sure you tune in!
Dale Bader / Meteorologist, Storm Force 31
