Expect afternoon repeat of morning storms

If you slept through the early morning storms the swept through much of Etowah County, you might get a chance to see the same thing this afternoon, based on the current forecast.

Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency Operations and Planning Specialist Josh Tanner said the agency received reports so far of about 20 trees down as a result of the severe thunderstorm about 3:30 a.m. or 4 a.m. today.

There were no reports of damage to homes, he said, from straight-line winds that gusted at 50 mph.

The National Weather Service predicts similar weather this afternoon, Tanner said, so people should continue to monitor the weather throughout the day.

By about 8 a.m. today, 355 customers were without power in the Gadsden area, Tanner said, down from 2,600 who lost power in the early morning hours.

“It was a pretty good little storm,” he said.

When the first weather advisory was issued for a significant storm between 3:25 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. for Etowah County, Tanner said he started preparing to come in to the Emergency Operations Center.

“I got up and looked out — that typical Southern thing where you go out on the porch and try to see what the weather is doing,” he said. The weather station at his home in Hokes Bluff recorded 35 mph winds.

Reports of downed trees came from all over: Sardis, Gallant, the downtown Gadsden area, Alabama City, East Gadsden, Ballplay and Hokes Bluff. Small trees were reported down in the southern part of the county, in Southside and Rainbow City.

“It was not an isolated storm,” Tanner said.