15 years later: remembering the 2011 Super Outbreak
RINGGOLD, Ga. (WDEF)- “When I moved here in the 1990s, the thinking was we don’t get that bad storms here because of all the ridges and the mountains around us, and that breaks up those weather systems. 15 years ago that was proven wrong and it can happen here.”
Communities like Ringgold, Apison, Rainsville, Trenton, Flat Rock, New Harmony, and so many others were devastated on April 27, 2011 during the Super Outbreak.
Multiple rounds of violent storms spawned over 50 tornadoes in a single day, leading to the worst weather disaster in our history.
Over 300 people were killed across the southeast, with 70 of those fatalities happening here in our area.
Over half of those deaths came from just two tornadoes.
25 were killed in Rainsville from the strongest kind of tornado, an EF5 packing winds over 200 m.p.h, and 20 were killed from a long track EF4 tornado that ravaged Catoosa, Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, and McMinn Counties.
In particular, that tornado struck Ringgold, Apison, and portions of southern Cleveland.
These two tornadoes are linked because they spawned from the same supercell, the intense variety of storms that sustain themselves for long periods of time, which traveled hundreds of miles across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia.
In Rainsville, that community came together to reflect on this anniversary, as the memory of the tornadoes is vivid in those who saw them.
One of those who saw the tornado was Alabama’s Speaker of the House, Representative Nathaniel Ledbetter, who that day was working in Rainsville.
He said, “(I) saw it come through the middle of town. Two small ones dropped and went back up, then they came down and went together and that’s when all the devastation started. So it’s one of those things I just don’t forget.”
For DeKalb County EMA Director Michael Posey, who was a dispatcher 15 years ago, he recalled his family’s close escape.
Posey said, “When I got home, I was amazed that there was one limb broke off of a tree in my front yard and that was it. But just over the hill from my house everything was gone. There were well built brick and mortar homes that were leveled there was nothing left. They were gone.”
Similar destruction was left from Ringgold to Cleveland, peaking in intensity around the Cherokee Valley and Apison areas around the Tennessee-Georgia state line.
15 victims are listed at the memorial in Apison to those who perished in the Apison and Cherokee Valley areas at the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department station in Apison.
Catoosa County Public Information Officer John Pless, said he recalled his house shaking that evening but being missed by the tornado.
The tornado went on to destroy Ringgold Middle and High Schools, along with many of the businesses which sat at exit 348 on Alabama Highway.
Pless said, “Most things have been rebuilt, trees are growing back, but I think the legacy (of this tornado) is just remembering some of those people who died. One of the families lived on the other side of White Oak Mountain in Cherokee Valley. It was a family of four that was taken out as their home was literally swept off the pad.”
All we spoke with say that the ultimate legacy of this outbreak is an increased sense of weather preparedness.
Back in Rainsville, Posey said, “Every person has to take this serious, as a culture, as individuals this has to be the fabric of our own society, we have to instill that preparedness every single day.”
A tornado memorial to the 25 victims in Rainsville also exists at the DeKalb County Sports Complex.
Remember to go over your severe weather plans, which should include a safe room and a weather radio among other items.
