By AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Feb. 4, 2022 11:36 AM EST | Updated Feb. 4, 2022 1:35 PM EST
A powerful EF2 tornado tore through portions of western Alabama on Thursday, leaving one woman dead and several others injured, including three in critical condition.
The town of Sawyerville, located in Hale County, sustained significant damage from the tornado strike with drone footage showing trees uprooted and buildings flattened. The power of the storm even shifted a mobile home off its foundation, according to a report gathered by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC).
A tornado struck Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, along Hale County Highway 14 in the Sawyerville Community. All that remains of a destroyed mobile home is a pile of debris. (USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect)
Meteorologists at the NWS office in Birmingham, Alabama, confirmed the tornado around 2 p.m. CST after rotation was indicated on radar.
The tornado, described as "large and extremely dangerous" by the NWS, was so intense as it plowed through the town that radar was picking up debris being lofted high into the atmosphere.
Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden told WVTM-TV that the tornado killed one woman and left at least eight other people injured. Three of the victims were in critical condition, and the other five had minor injuries. The agency responded to "multiple people trapped" beneath rubble left behind by the twister.
The NWS said Friday that multiple storm survey crews were out analyzing damage in the affected areas. Shortly after 12 p.m. local time, the NWS said surveys found "EF2 tornado damage near Sawyerville in Hale County and at least EF1 tornado damage south of Cuba in Sumter County."
According to data compiled by the SPC, this is the first tornado-related fatality of 2022 in the United States.
Hale County Commissioner Patti Rhodes reported a tree had fallen over her driveway and was blocking the entrance to her home. Rhodes said she was going to "check on everybody" as soon as the tree was removed.
The county's schools and offices closed on Friday as a result of the storm.
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Two other tornadoes were spawned in Alabama amid Thursday's severe weather. One twister dropped down in Sumter County in western portions of the state with another reported in Elmore County to the north of Montgomery.
All schools in the Sumter County School System plan to reopen on Monday, Feb. 7, after closures on Friday due to storm damage.
Minor damage was reported at a camper park near Weoka Mills from the Elmore County tornado, with several trees down as well, according to an SPC storm report.
The tornadoes were spawned on the warm side of a massive storm system that has unleashed travel-snarling snow and ice from Texas to Maine over the past few days.
AccuWeather meteorologists say the weather will add no further hardships for cleanup and recovery efforts in the days to come with dry weather anticipated through the weekend.
However, residents left without power and proper shelter in the wake of the storms will face chilly days and even colder nights through Saturday, before temperatures moderate early next week.
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