People wait in line of an Owens storm shelter late Wednesday evening as severe storms were reported in the area. 

At approximately 8:50 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, severe storms generated multiple tornados across the southeast, which caused damage within Limestone and Madison counties.

Multiple road closures due to fallen trees were reported across the region within both Limestone and Madison counties. According to county and city officials, on Thursday, May 9, Closing Line Road and Pike Road at Hwy. 72 were closed to remove the debris.

Anthony Pressnell, Athens police chief, talked to The News Courier about some of the damages from the storm. He also noted just how fortunate the city was in comparison to other areas.

“We had some power outages and some traffic signal problems, along with a couple trees down,” Pressnell said. “But other than that, the city really got spared pretty good when you look at places like Brigadoon.”

Brigadoon, a gated residential community on the edge of the Tennessee River, was thrashed Wednesday night by an EF-3 tornado. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported so far out of the area, but property damage was sustained to the waterfront homes.

According to Athens Utilities, 2,000 customers spread across eight total outages were without power due to the severe weather in the city during the storms. Athens utility crews were able to work it down to just 19 customers without power by Thursday morning, and they assisted Huntsville Utility with their immense power outages as well.

Mayor Ronnie Marks reciprocated the sentiments of the chief as he talked about the city’s resiliency in serious situations.

“We were out all night and all morning making sure everyone we could find was safe,” Marks said. “Seeing the way people came together to help each other, and offer shelter through the night, was not surprising in the least bit.”

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