Multiple storms came through North Alabama this week. The worst damage came on Friday as strong winds knocked out power to thousands

Athens-Limestone started the day off under a tornado watch and a high wind advisory and as the morning progressed on went under a severe thunderstorm warning due to a strong storm that came up through Decatur.

At approximately 11 a.m. a line of thunderstorms came through with “tornado like wind speeds.” Wind speeds of up to 77 mph were measured at Pryor Field.

The storm moved through southeast Limestone County.

At around noon the tornado watch for Limestone County was cancelled as Madison-Huntsville continued to be hammered with damaging winds.

The following incidents are from an ongoing list Friday of the reported storm damage and many may be cleared as of press time.

Electrical hazards

• Grover Drive and Nancy Lane in Clements
• Elk River Mills between Bonnie Blue and Tillman Mill

Traffic lights

• Jefferson St. & Hwy. 72
• Hwy 31 at Walmart

Road conditions

• Swan Creek Road at Hwy. 31
• Missing stop sign at O’Neal and Hwy. 99

Trees/power lines

• Publics works employees cleared a fallen tree near Dream Key Realty
• The Street Department reported three crews working to remove trees throughout Athens, including Quinn Road, Indian Trace, Jefferson Street and other areas.
• There were been about 15 trees down as of Friday afternoon. In some instances, trees are in utility lines and crews have to wait for Utilities to determine it’s safe to remove the tree. On state highways, the city has to get permission from ALDOT to remove the tree.

“We are working as quickly as we can, and calls continue to come in,” Street Department Director Dolph Bradford said. He said some cedar trees, probably close to 100 years old, were down in some of the City cemeteries.

Crews were working on 60 outages throughout Limestone County. Utilities reported four major circuits were out impacting about 4,000 customers. The weather contributed to trees falling on lines, wind blowing lines down themselves and other debris snagging lines.

The National Weather Service had forecasted another .5-1.5 inches of rain for the surrounding Huntsville area through Friday, March 3 after rain fell throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday.

Athens City Schools and Limestone County Schools were closed Friday, March 3, for the weather.

Limestone County saw flooding in many areas as the rain fell overnight Wednesday. In Athens, Line Road was closed Thursday until about 1:00 p.m. when the water receded enough, according to the city’s street department.

The city also said there were 11 power outages reported with about 860 customers affected in total for the severe weather event Wednesday, March 1, into Thursday, March 2.

A tornado warning was issued for Tanner and the Southeastern Limestone area as storms passed on Wednesday night. That warning expired around 10:15 p.m. March 1.