Tornado F5 Video, Very Close & Roaring Pass, April 27th 2011 Super Outbreak, Phil Campbell, AL

Info on the tornado below in this description.

Filmed in Phil Campbell, AL
The closest full recorded pass of the Hackleburg & Phil Campbell, Alabama tornado.
The most powerful and longest tornado of the day during the 2011 Super Outbreak on April 27th.

I saw the debris ball on radar coming this way, so I set the camera in the window (in the house) facing the direction I thought it was most likely to pass, then we took shelter several minutes before the tornado hit. (I edited out the beginning of the video before uploading it here).

Email: joshtv5 at
gmail.com

You can here the rumble of the tornado at the very beginning of the video get louder and louder as it approaches.
Sorry, the rattle noise at the beginning is an air-conditioning vent.
Power goes off at 0:13 then comes back on at 0:19, it finally goes off for good at 1:08 for several days.

Winds in the Tornado: 210mph+ (EF-5) Very possible up around the 300 mph range (but there were no portable doppler radar on wheels to measure this particular tornado with that amount of detail).
It was based on well build houses being swept away and other extreme damage that gives the at least 210mph+ rating.
The Tornado & Storm Forward Movement during video: 70mph (accurately calculated by the distance and time centered on the debris ball using standard radar frames)
Damage Path Length: Over 132 miles long
Peak Path Width: 1.25 miles

Some damages observed after this tornado:
-Ripped a concrete roof off a storm cellar in Phil Campbell.
-Totally ripped out large oaks from the ground and debarked them in some areas.
-Ripped up a section road pavement in Phil Campbell.
-Blew away a house that had foundation anchor bolts.
-Scoured up the ground in areas.
-A 3 ton John Deere tractor at the very edge of the tornado was picked up or tumbled for over 60 yards breaking the front axle off, bending a rear tire at the axle, and blowing a chunk of metal off the thick oil pan (the piece was never found). The fast moving tornado passed by so quick the tractor never made it to the center of the worst damage being that it started at the edge.

Fatalities from this one tornado: 72
Injuries from this one tornado: At least 145


Not For Rebroadcast
Available For License