FULTONDALE, Ala. (WIAT) — Two years ago, an EF-3 tornado hit the city of Fultondale, leaving a 14-year-old boy dead as well as a trail of debris and destruction.
A year later, the city is still recovering from the tornado. In fact, Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie said houses are still being rebuilt across the city.
McKenzie said working with insurance companies to repair and knowing which houses the city is responsible for are daily challenges. He said there are between 10 to 15 houses under the city jurisdiction that are either a nuisance or life safety hazard and are in the process of having those homes torn down. Still, other houses are under Jefferson County’s control and not the city’s control.
However, despite the continuing recovery process, city leaders say Fultondale has seen significant growth since the tornado, with new businesses and residents that have come into the city in the last year.
“For us, we’re going to keep moving forward; we’re going to continue to invite businesses and residents to come to move to Fultondale,” McKenzie said. “We want more businesses to come here; we want to keep growing, and now with the projection of the Northern Beltline, we want to keep growing even further.”
The Fultondale Hampton Inn was one business destroyed by the tornado. Construction is still ongoing to rebuild the hotel with general manager Lisa Stone saying the hotel will be ready to come back in June.
“We left the system as a Hampton Inn; we’ll come back as a Hampton Inn and Suites, and we’ll be bigger now,” Stone said. “They’ll be 89 rooms versus the 64 in it before.”
That tornado also destroyed Fultondale High School. Jefferson County School leaders said construction on the new school will be completed sometime this spring.