A tornado in Alabama injured five people, destroyed a Walmart, and overturned an 18-wheeler on Thursday night.
"We heard a loud noise," Walmart employee Sarah Brookins
told the Troy Messenger. "All of a sudden the wind was blowing in the store. We saw dust blowing through the door."
"I was looking for somewhere to go," said Eric Bagents of Rutledge, who was shopping in the electronics department when the tornado tore through. "I just got low . . . I was heading to the bathroom because it’s walled up, but I stopped before I realized that’s what I needed to do."
"What seemed to be a tornado-like storm damaged the Walmart in Troy structurally," Mayor Jason Reeves
told NBC News.
"It flipped multiple trucks and tractor trailers in the parking lot, and damaged a strip-mall structure near the Walmart. There is also water damage in the area from damage to a water main."
Reeves said further that two of those injured were inside the Walmart when the tornado touched down about 50 miles southeast of Montgomery. Another person injured was inside an overturned truck. All three were taken to the hospital.
Troy Fire Department Chief Thomas Outlaw said that so far none of the injuries appeared to be serious.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama,
announced on Twitter that the storm was confirmed as a tornado, however an investigation into the tornado rating was ongoing.
"Our fire, police, utilities, EMA, EMS, and Troy utilities . . . it’s everyone coming together at a time like this that you really appreciate working hard to keep everyone safe," the mayor concluded.
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