CENTRE —  No. 51. That's the official number of the tornado that chewed through part of Cherokee County on April 27, 2011, when 62 twisters killed 248 people in a single day in Alabama.

The state's report on the day of destruction, by necessity, is filled with numbers: the number of homes destroyed, the strength of the winds, the length of the paths of destruction, the people who died. But beyond the numbers are the survivors whose resilience and determination have helped them rebuild homes and lives in Cherokee County and across the state.

Gary Singleton had spent most of April 27 clearing trees off of pasture fences after severe winds from the storms roiling the state tore through in the morning. By late afternoon, he was back at his house listening to weather reports on radio and TV. A tornado warning was in effect and he was paying close attention. Newscasters were following No. 51's punishing path across the Alabama.

“When I heard it had crossed New Liberty Road—that's about three miles as the crow flies from my house—I knew I had two or three minutes,” Singleton said.

But he had a plan, which was to do what experts advise. He took cover in an interior space without windows, a bedroom closet, and he waited.

“It was loud. There were sounds I'd never heard before. I was praying,” he said.
In moments, it was over.

“I couldn't get out of the closet, but I was talking to a neighbor on the phone and by the time he got here, I was out,” he said.

The closet was mostly intact. The electrical wiring was pulled out, but the Sheetrock was still standing and so was Singleton.

“If I had been in my TV chair, I would have been gone,” he said.

When he pushed his way out of the closet, he could see daylight. “I knew the roof was gone,” he said, but so was most of his house on County Road 19—scattered over the cow and horse pastures at his farm.

For a few days, he slept in his truck, then at a friend's house until he could get the walls back up. He didn't have hot water for four months but he was just glad he could live at his house.

“A cold shower at home is better than a hot one at a Holiday Inn,” he said.
Singleton, who farms about 600 acres, said he wasn't hurt and only one of his horses, Buddy, suffered a laceration.

“Buddy's fine now,” he said.

Singleton said the response from the community was inspiring.

“One of the neighbors came the second day and said, 'when are we going to get started?' People came by, church members, whether I went to their church or not, and anytime people stopped by, I had a job for them.”

“I wish I could have thanked each one,” he said. “The community came through.”

By the one-year mark of the tornado, Singleton's house should be finished. A couple of weeks ago, the only thing left to do were the hardwood floors.

Yellow Skies

Off of County Road 6 in the Gnatville community, Michael Reynolds was watching the sky that evening.

“It had turned yellow,” he said.

His mother was telling him he should come and get in the storm shelter. They used it a lot, but he never did. Something about April 27 was different. He went for the first time.

“It was quick. I could hear it and feel it,” Reynolds said.

Then it was quiet.

Reynolds' mobile home had been in the direct path of one of the worst tornadoes ever to hit the state. The home was gone and six vehicles were destroyed. Some were 100 yards away from where they had been parked.

“I couldn't get back down here that night. Trees were down, power lines. It was awful. We had to walk out of the hollow,” said Reynolds, a roofer. “I've never seen anything like it.”

In minutes, everything Reynolds had worked for was gone. The quickest thing to do would have been to replace his destroyed home with another mobile home, and he almost did.

“But I'd always wanted a house and I thought if I was ever going to do it, this was the time,” he said.

Reynolds, who also pours cement for a living, said he has built a lot of the house himself. He drew up the design and has worked on it while living in a small FEMA trailer next door.

It's a house anyone would be proud of, with a bedroom and bathroom for each of his three daughters.

“I asked them if there was anything special they wanted and they all wanted their own bathroom,” he said.

For Reynolds and the others hit hard by the tornado, it has been a tough year. He has worked long hours at his job while building his house. Some of the interior work is still left to do but he's almost there.

“I've had a lot of help,” he said. “When something like that happens, everybody pulls together.”

Like Matches

Martha Wood's husband had just left for work early on the morning of April 27 when the first wave of tornado winds blew through on County Road 6. She didn't know about the danger until it was too late.

The force of the wind lifted up their mobile home, carried it a short distance, then dropped it.

“It looked like a pack of matches,” she said.

Wood needed 10 stitches and she had bruising, “but I was very fortunate,” she said.

The Woods did not replace the mobile home, but they are redoing another house they have on their property.

“The Good Lord took care of us,” she said.

Most of their belongings were destroyed, but Wood said she found some of her cookware and neighbors helped her salvage family photos that were scattered across the yard and in the debris.

“People were so good,” she said. “We're going to be OK.”

That's what many of the victims of April 27 say: We're going to be OK.

They have endured hardships but they have cleared the debris that once was their lives and rebuilt them again. They are survivors.