Tornado touches down in Alabama as winter storms strike US

Published December 25, 2012 Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS – Christmas Day along the Gulf Coast was filled with severe thunderstorms that brought drenching rains, high winds and damaging tornadoes while the nation's midsection dealt with freezing rain, sleet and snow that made for a sloppy and sometimes dangerous trek for holiday travelers.

Winds toppled a tree onto a pickup truck in the Houston area, killing the driver. Icy roads already were blamed for a 21-vehicle pileup in Oklahoma, where authorities warned would-be travelers to stay home.

A tornado hit downtown Mobile, Alabama at about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Local media reported property damage, and downed trees and power lines.

Earlier, the National Weather Service tweeted that a tornado was headed toward downtown Mobile, Ala., and WALA posted on its website a photo from its tower cam of what looked like a funnel cloud moving toward the city.

Near McNeill, Miss., in the southwestern part of the state, winds from a storm, possibly a tornado, damaged a dozen homes and injured several people, none seriously, said Pearl River County emergency management agency director Danny Manley.

Trees fell on a few houses in central Louisiana's Rapides Parish but there were no injuries reported and crews were cutting trees out of roadways to get to people in their homes, said sheriff's Lt. Tommy Carnline.

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2012/12/2.../#ixzz2G7H6I1ja

Live stream:

http://www.fox10tv.com/generic/video/LiveStream_FOX10

And National Weather Service:

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?produ...id=MOB&loop=yes

Half mile wide tornado in downtown Mobile:

I canceled my travel plans because of this weather. Thank God it didn't get as bad as they predicted here.

This video was just posted a few minutes ago on Facebook. Hopefully nobody was hurt.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=414...&type=2&theater