MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (WHNT) – In Colbert County, two cities received quite a bit of damage from Monday evenings storms which rushed through.
Due to the path, emergency management officials believe the damage was the result of a tornado that struck in Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals.
As the sun rose on Tuesday, the extent of damage in Muscle Shoals became evident. Sheet metal scattered, power poles snapped, and power lines laying on the ground.
Evidence left behind in just the area of Woodward Avenue and Second Street. The intersection was closed until just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, as TVA crews made repairs at the site all day.
“We believe that it was a tornado to be honest with you. When you have bricks sucked off a building, and you have trees in different directions, there’s got to be a twisting motion to it,” explained Colbert County Emergency Management Director Mike Melton.
Power to much of Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia was shut off due to the fallen power lines.
Crews have spent countless hours since Monday night trying to rebuild the supply lines that feed both homes and businesses south of Avalon Avenue and west of Woodward.
“What I am counting our blessings about is nobody got hurt,” said Melton. “There were some people carried to be checked out, but for the most part minor to no injuries and that is just a blessing for everybody involved in my opinion.”
Public works officials say at the height of the outage more than half the residents in Muscle Shoals were without power. Much of that has been restored.