On April 27th, 2011 the Southeastern United States was hit by severe thunderstorms and a mile-wide tornado that caused massive damage across the states of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Rare weather conditions created the perfect environment to create the monster tornado and severe storms (super cells) that traveled with it. The mile-wide Tuscaloosa tornado may have had winds exceeding 260 miles and hour which would categorize it as an “F5″ on the Fujita scale. This scale (F1- F5) ranks a tornado based on its wind speeds and destructive potential.

Since no estimates have been set regarding the damage, it isn’t known if FEMA’s 13.6 million in grants and loans will be enough to cover damages from the storm. Meanwhile, the people displaced by the storm are still struggling to cope. Few of Birmingham’s affected families know where their homes are or plan to be, as city officials are using this time as an opportunity to restructure Birmingham’s layout, reports the Wall Street Journal. However, local victims are eager to rebuild their lives. Michael Howell-Moroney, a specialist in urban planning at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, said the dichotomy of interests is causing frustration.

The AP reported on one shelter, operating out of a Tuscaloosa recreation center, that is nearing full capacity. Although tornado victims are safe inside, neighborhood cleanup actions have barely begun and a recent increase in looting caused local officials to enforce a curfew.

If you sustained any damages to your home or property as a result of the recent storms, please contact us immediately. This type of information is important to your storm damage claim and it is imperative that we be informed of all damages. It is important that these damages be documented quickly and appropriately so as to protect your claim, and also to properly present these storm damages to the insurance company, if necessary.

If you or anyone you know have any questions about what the next step should be in the process of dealing with any storm damages, please feel free to call us.

sources: Huffington Post, ABC News

Keywords: Storm Claim Attorneys, Storm Damage Attorneys, Tornadoes, Tornado Damage, Alabama, Alabama Tornadoes 2011, Insurance Claims, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, FEMA