Christmas, 2012: A day not soon forgotten
West Alabama will enjoy a cool, calm Christmas, according to weather forecasts, but many Demopolis residents will undoubtedly take a moment to reflect on events one year earlier that made Christmas Day 2012 one never to be forgotten.
“We were watching (the weather) on the internet,” said Kathy Lewis, who lives on U.S. 43 South near the Demopolis Sports-Plex. “Of course it was dark and we couldn’t see the tornado coming.”
Everyone in the Lewis home that evening heard what they couldn’t see.
“My son Tommy and I had our eyes on the laptop,” said Lewis’ husband, Denny. “Tommy said there was a red dot on the radar right where we were, and then it disappeared, so I kind of thought it was over. But then we heard it, and we all knew what it was. I couldn’t hear anything but wind and that’s a sound you don’t ever want to hear. It was almost nauseating.”
The family gathered up the children and all crammed into a bathroom. “We put the kids in the bathtub and I threw heavy quilts over them,” Kathy said. “The rest of us (including the Lewis’ pregnant daughter-in-law) just huddled there and waited it out.”
The wait didn’t take long.
“It came and went so fast,” Denny Lewis said. “It was a very narrow tornado, and I don’t think it was completely on the ground when it came over us. The way those things move is something you can’t explain.”
According to the National Weather Service’s official report, the Christmas Day tornado touched down west of Highway 43 near Marengo Farms Road at 5:50 p.m., and stayed on the ground for approximately nine minutes, traveling 5.9 miles.
The greatest damage occurred in the Sunset Road area east of Demopolis.
The NWS gave the tornado an EF-1 rating, estimating that wind speeds reached 100 miles an hour at the storm’s peak.
Lewis said he lost approximately 20 trees in his front yard and another 10 or so in the wooded area behind his home. The house suffered only roof damage, but it was enough to warrant a new roof.
Demopolis Police Chief Tommie Reese said he was planning a Christmas evening at home, but went out prior to the tornado when reports of potential bad weather began to come in.
“I was out on Highway 80 West, and when it hit we went to the area immediately,” Reese recalled. “We called out everybody we could, and had kind of a makeshift department at that time because so many of the officers were out of town for the holiday. But I remember feeling very fortunate that we have people here who will respond and leave their own families on Christmas to help others.”
Denny Lewis said he’ll probably take a moment to reflect this Christmas evening. “We’re going to my daughter’s house in Tuscaloosa for Christmas, but we’ll probably be back by dark, just like we did last year,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll think about it, and I’m praying we don’t ever have anything like that again.”
Kathy Lewis pointed out that trees were lying in every direction in her front yard when her family ventured out that stormy evening a year ago. “The trees were all around our vehicles, but not one of our vehicles was damaged,” she said.
More importantly, there were no injuries or loss of life connected with the Christmas Day tornado.
“Somebody was watching over us,” said Reese.