1977 North Smithfield tornado
The 1977 Smithfield tornado struck the northern suburbs of the Birmingham during the afternoon of April 4, 1977.
Beginning just a few miles north of downtown Birmingham near Tarrant, the tornado proceed north through northern Jefferson County producing F5 damage in the town of Smithfield. The tornado was blamed for 22 deaths and more then 125 injuries while damage was estimated at $15 million dollars. Hundreds of homes were completely destroyed while Daniel Payne College suffered extensive damage and was forced to close. [1]
In addition to this tornado, several other tornadoes were reported from the same system in the Midwest, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina. One tornado in Floyd County, Georgia killed one person while another fatality was reported east of Birmingham in St. Clair County.
The F5 tornado touched down near the end of the path of two other violent tornadoes that struck the Birmingham region in 1956 and in 1998. In 1998, another F5 started north of Tuscaloosa before ending southwest of Tarrant after killing 32. The 1956 F4 tornado which follow a similar path through Birmingham killed 25. [2]
References
- "Birmingham Tornado of April 1977." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 8 Mar 2007, 18:22 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 28 Mar 2007 [3].