Remembering April 27 storm victims in north Alabama 13 years later

HACKLEBURG, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Saturday marks 13 years since a record of 62 tornadoes touched down across Alabama, resulting in the deaths of 250 people and leaving thousands injured.

One of those tornadoes was an EF-5 that hit Hackleburg, a town in north Alabama’s Marion County.

“It was just unbelievable. you didn’t even recognize the town you grew up in your whole life,” resident Trey George said.

George remembers the day the storms forever changed his hometown.

“The elementary was about where that little parking area was and then the cafeteria we would share would have been right in that area,” George said, pointing out his surroundings. “Where that big truck is, that’s where the playground for the old elementary school was.”

A new high school opened in 2015. For the past three years, George has served as its principal and says it’s the heartbeat of the community.

“To be able to get it back and be able to rally around it, it’s been phenomenal to see it and our community and the way they have stepped up and come back,” George said.

Hackleburg mayor Daryl Colburn says despite the town losing many businesses from the storm, they’ve fortunately been able to recover and rebuild well over the years.

“We have had a lot of new businesses come to town, rebuilt the grocery store,” Colburn said. “Out of all the bad, we had some good come out of it.”

Colburn also says losing citizens from the storm left a devasting impact in the lives of many residents.

“In a small town like Hackleburg — where the population is 1,500 — if you lose one, most everybody in the community knows them and that’s a huge loss. But when you lose 18 people in a small town like Hackleburg, that really hits hard,” Colburn said.

A memorial sits in Hackleburg to remember the 18 lives lost from the April 27 tornado.

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