'It got eerily quiet': EF3 tornado destroys homes in Limestone County

May 10—John and Laura Fuller emerged from their storm shelter in their basement Wednesday night to a strange silence and saw that the house they had built a year and a half ago was gone as a result of an EF3 tornado.

"We were in the tornado shelter, and then it got calm, so we came out of the tornado shelter and came upstairs," John Fuller said. "We continued to look outside, and it was nice and calm, and all of a sudden the hail started to form."

He said they headed back downstairs to the storm shelter in their basement about 8:25 p.m. Wednesday.

"It was just before that that I had sent a text that said, 'We're good here,'" he said. "So, within about two minutes of us getting in that storm shelter, the Earth started to rumble. We locked the deadbolt on the door to the storm shelter, we heard a little bit of commotion, and then it got eerily quiet."

John Fuller said they came out of the shelter to see that the basement was intact.

"There was some debris inside, but we thought maybe a tree had fallen down and broken out a piece of glass," he said. "Then we went upstairs, and we could see all the way through the house because there was no ceiling and no walls on the back of the house."

Trent Simon, Limestone County Emergency Management Agency officer, said the county's severe damage was limited to the Brigadoon subdivision in southwest unincorporated Limestone County. He said there is damage to about 20 houses with some being demolished, including Fullers' home. Simon said there were no reports of fatalities or of anyone being injured.

According to the National Weather Service in Huntsville, an EF3 tornado with winds up to 136 mph touched down near where the Elk River and Tennessee River meet, traveled down the Tennessee River, and moved to shore at the Brigadoon subdivision. The NWS said it was 0.13 miles wide and had a path 2.2 miles long.

"There is no roof anywhere on the house," John Fuller said. "And there are no walls to speak of with the exception of three walls in the front of the house. So, it's about half the front wall."

Laura Fuller said she was sure the tornado must have been very loud.

"Our tornado shelter is completely encased with concrete and blocks," she said. "It really insulates it from being able to hear loudness."

Unlike some houses in their subdivision, no trees fell on their house.

"We had probably eight 100-year-old oaks, and they're all gone," Laura said.

John Fuller said they were fortunate as to where their trees fell when they were uprooted.

"None of our trees fell on our house or a neighbor's house. They all fell into the yard, across the driveway, or into an empty lot beside us," he said. "There are trees that are standing in the neighbor's yard, and just every branch is just twisted from the bottom to the top."

He said there was significant damage throughout the subdivision.

"Our neighbor's house, they lost the roof to their second story and lots of their windows busted out," he said. "Across the street ... they lost the roof off the back of their house."

The Fullers moved to Limestone County from Oxford after retirement a year and a half ago and built their house on the edge of the Tennessee River. They have children who live in the area that they are staying with for now. The Fullers said they plan to rebuild on the same lot.

Athens Utilities had a total of 2,000 customers without power Wednesday night. Outages were reported between U.S. 72 and Buck Island, the Ardmore area, and scattered around the rest of the county. As of Thursday at 10:45 a.m., there were only 19 customers still without power.

According to Athens spokeswoman Holly Hollman, Fire Chief James Hand reported that a lightning strike caused an attic fire Wednesday night on Travertine Drive in Athens. Hollman said it was contained to the attic.

Simon said there were trees down across roadways throughout the county, but they were cleared by county district crews Thursday morning.

Jonathan Warner, Morgan County EMA director, and Chris Waldrep, Lawrence County EMA director, both reported no damage or injuries in their counties.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.