The tornado began its path of destruction west of the city, near the steam plant on Triana Boulevard. It reached full fury with winds estimated at over 250 mph, as it slammed into the city a few minutes later. The path of the tornado could not have been worse. It cut a swath of almost total destruction along Airport Road, from Memorial Parkway east.

It then roared into the Jones Valley and in a few seconds, Jones Valley Elementary School was flattened. Most students were already gone but, there were about 3 dozen students in an after school care program. All survived. One person was killed in her car in front of the building. Further to the east more homes were damaged or destroyed.

The tornado finally ran out of energy after damaging some buildings in the community of Brownsboro, in eastern Madison County. The storm path was over 15 miles long. In many areas it looked like a bomb had been dropped. Cars were piled on top of other cars and on top of buildings and in trees. School supplies from the Jones Valley School were found as far away as Tennessee.

At one point the damage path shows the tornado almost a half mile wide. Meteorologists classify tornadoes according to the Fujita Scale. The scale runs from zero to 5. The Huntsville tornado was ranked as a 4. A strong 4. Tornadoes this strong are actually quite rare, but that is little comfort to the people who lost friends and family on that terrible afternoon.

In a matter of seconds, 22 people were killed and almost 500 were injured. Over 250 homes were destroyed and over one hundred more suffered major damage. Dozens of businesses and churches were destroyed or heavily damaged. Two schools were also totally destroyed. Massive damage was done to power and phone lines. It would be years before the area would begin to look normal again.

The residents of Madison County have experienced an event that is actually rather rare, a violent tornado. Yes, we have many tornadoes each year in Alabama, and many do considerable damage. The type of tornado that struck the city of Huntsville on that balmy afternoon in November happens only rarely, but when it does, it changes lives forever in just a matter of momentss.