Although members of the Tornado Remembrance and Awareness Committee are continuing to search records to verify the number of people killed in Limestone County by tornadoes since 1900, a preliminary list of 30 victims is below.
All names of tornado victims will be inscribed on a monument planned by TRAC. If you know of any victims not listed here, contact Kelly Kazek at 256-232-2720 or kelly@athensnews-courier.com.
Tornadoes deaths in Limestone County (listed in order of the number of fatalities):
• April 3, 1974. Sixteen people died when F5 and F4 tornadoes tore through the county within half an hour along the same path. Those who died were: Patsy Lovell, Mary Elizabeth Smith, Hattie Ruth McGlocklin, Walter James McGlocklin, Novie Ruffin, Rosie MacLin, Lillian Green, Amos Green, Willie Alvis Carter, Helen Carter, Teresa Carter, Louise Cain, Thomas Cain and Herman Lambert.
• May 26, 1924. The Collins family was killed when a tornado struck their farm at night three miles east of Elkmont. Those who died were George and Ethel Collins: James Lewis, 21; Sam Lee, 19; Charles Delbert, 17; Edna Lizzie, 14; Verna Lue, 12; and Annie Bell, 6.
• April 27, 2011: Four people were killed by an EF5 tornado that traveled 17 miles from Tanner, through East Limestone and into Madison County. Those who died were Janice and Glen Riddle, Shannon Sampson and Jan McElyea.
• May 18,1995. Chuck Dale, 30, was killed at Oakdale Mobile Home Park on Alabama 251 when an F4 tornado struck Limestone County before moving into Harvest, where is leveled Anderson Hills subdivision.
• Feb. 15, 1939. An unidentified woman was killed when a tornado struck her home near Tanner, according to the National Weather Service in Huntsville.
• March 13, 1913. Three people rumored killed three miles west of Tanner, according to the NWS.
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