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April 11, 2008

Friday storms cause minor damage in N. Alabama

From staff, wire reports

DOUBLE SPRINGS, Ala. — Strong storms buffeted north Alabama with heavy rains and stiff winds Friday, causing minor damage but no injuries.

Locally, Athens Bible School released students from class at 1:50 p.m. and some schools cancelled after-school activities.

As many as 40 homes were reported damaged on Buffalo Road in Lawrence County, Tenn. One person was injured in the city of Etheridge, Tenn. More than 4,000 homes are without power in that area and thousands of trees are down

Winds knocked down trees and power lines in Lamar and Winston counties amid a flurry of tornado warnings, but there were no confirmed touchdowns.

“Right now we’re in good shape,” said James Burnett, emergency management director in heavily forested Winston County. Crews cleared splintered trees from roads near Double Springs after the storms passed.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the northwestern corner of the state that covered 18 counties at its largest.

The watch area ran on a line from Huntsville in the Tennessee Valley to Demopolis in western Alabama.

Winds gusted up to 30 mph in Huntsville, knocking down traffic lights on a busy road.

More than a dozen school systems dismissed students after lunch because of the threat of severe weather, just as many did a week earlier ahead of a line of storms that left scattered damage across central Alabama.

The latest storm front has flooded roads with heavy rain in Missouri, forced school closings in Arkansas and damaged dozens of homes in Texas.

The storms were associated with a frontal system that forecasters said would bring cooler temperatures over the weekend. After days with highs around 80 degrees, highs Saturday were predicted to reach only the low 60s, with overnight lows in the 30s.

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