600 trees down after EF-0 tornado moves through Etowah County

ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Storm clean-up is underway in Etowah County after officials confirm an EF 0 tornado came through the Sardis area late last Friday. Several nearby cities are coming together to help with the recovery process.

Interim Gadsden Etowah County EMA Director Josh Tanner says about 600 trees fell because of the storm and getting those cleaned up could cost homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cities like Hokes Bluff, Gadsden, Southside, and more are coming together to help their neighbors in their time of need.

“We experienced in Sardis City and Boaz an EF-0 tornado over the weekend. Late Friday night. Very early Saturday morning. Winds up to 85 miles an hour. Some stronger,” says Tanner.

A few homes were damaged and one trailer was destroyed. Tanner says two people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He’s thankful that things weren’t worse, but now they are concerned about several trees being down.

“They are perfect ground for snakes to be under,” says Tanner. “They cause further issues with blocking roadways as well as drainage issues the list just goes on and on.”

Tanner says he reached out to Gadsden’s mayor for assistance with debris cleanup and that call led to cities like Attalla and Rainbow City offering their employees and trucks to assist.

“We were very fortunate that a lot of the mayors in the municipalities in the area in the county were able to send up ten public works trucks today to assist with the clean-up process,” says Tanner. “When everybody’s on the same page, everybody’s working together, that’s when Etowah County is at its best.”

The EMA says they are planning another clean-up day soon to work with the cities again to get all of the debris removed.

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