Alabama storm damage: High winds, heavy rains leave a trail of destruction

High winds and heavy rains from Thursday’s severe storms left a trail of destruction in Alabama.

Trees were toppled, power lines were downed and businesses sustained damage.

In St. Clair County, a woman died when a tree fell on a mobile home. The death was the first attributed to the storms.

While the state was spared from tornadoes, the heavy storms still caused damage throughout Alabama.

As of 5 a.m., cleanup was ongoing. The city of Tuscaloosa reported on social media at least seven different streets with downed trees. Alabama Power reported at 4 a.m. that 25,226 customers were still without power across the state. There were 16,382 outages in the Tuscaloosa area; 3,243 in the Mobile area; 1,685 in the Birmingham area; 975 in the Anniston area; 2,380 in the Montgomery area; and 851 in the Eufaula area.

Around 3 a.m., the National Weather Service in Birmingham said on Twitter, “storms have been behaved despite conditions that became more favorable for severe storms. Heavy rain and storms continue across southeast AL. This activity is moving northeastward.” The NWS also said gusty winds will cause temperatures to drop throughout the day Friday and light showers are possible.

At 7:30 a.m., Alabama Power provided another update and said the number of total outages was down to 19,622 total. That’s a combination of about 14,332 outages in the Tuscaloosa area; 919 in the Birmingham area; 545 in the Anniston area; 650 in Montgomery area; 2,172 in the Mobile area; and 989 in the Eufaula area.

AL.com reporter Ivana Hrynkiw contributed to this report.

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