A big pine tree fell through a mobile home on Love Road in Grove Hill Monday night as a quick storm roared through the area. There was other damage as well including downed trees and power lines, damaged sheds and fences. One trampoline was spotted twisted and bent after being tossed about by the high winds.
Willo Jean Coates lived in the mobile home on Love Road crushed by the big pine. She was not at home but had gone to her daughter’s when bad weather was predicted.
Several other homes along Love Road sustained minor damages.
Roy Waite, director of the Clarke County Emergency Management Agency, said the concentrated storm cell was traveling from southwest to northeast and looked as if it was going to bypass Grove Hill but then suddenly dropped down toward the town. The storm, around 8 p.m., dumped three inches of rain in an hour’s time, Waite said.
Waite said no tornado was reported although the damage along Love Road appeared to be in a rotation pattern similar to that of a tornado’s.
Several trees and power lines were downed along Old Highway 5 north of Grove Hill. One big pine on the Alabama Forestry Commission property at the fire tower fell across the highway and wasn’t cleared for hours.
Waite said a car slid off of Highway 43 into a drainage ditch near Clarke Prep School. The car was rapidly filling with water before the driver got out.
Waite and County Engineer Jake Bailey said there was some road damage but inspections were still being made Tuesday morning. Waite said in the Coffeeville area there was damage to the Miller Howze Road. He said the Go-Co convenience store had water inside the store as did the old elementary school, now owned by the town.
Heavy rains upstate, followed by heavy rains there last week, will certainly swell the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers to flood levels.
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