What appears to be a major tornado roared through much of the northern areas of Jefferson County, but the vast majority of Fultondale and all other surrounding communities were spared.

City officials reported very little damage from the storm, which passed through Fultondale around 3:30 a.m. The closest damage of any significance was to industrial buildings in the Pawnee area off Pinson Valley Parkway, just east of the city proper. One brick building had a collapsed wall, semi-trailers were blown about, and siding from metal buildings hung on power lines. Police Chief Byron Pigg said some damage was reported in the Mountain Drive area that may have been caused by straight-line winds.

But to the east and west, folks were not as fortunate.

Preliminary reports indicate major damage in parts of Pinson, Center Point, Clay, Chalkville, Trussville and Argo. There was also damage in the Oak Grove area, not far from the elementary and high school which were built to replace those destroyed in April 1998. Early reports indicate two fatalities so far, one in Oak Grove and one in Clay.

The funnel cloud apparently rose back into the clouds as it passed over Fultondale, touching back down in the Pawnee area before moving on to the east. National Weather Service storm teams will assess the damage, survey the path and rate the twister on the Enhanced Fuljita scale over the next two days.

The storm caused Jefferson County Schools officials to close the system for the day, after originally delaying the opening by two hours. That closure caused the postponement of the Fultondale City Council’s Monday meeting, which was to have been held at Fultondale High School. The council meets there once each year; this meeting was also intended to honor the Wildcats football team for its record-setting run into the playoffs last fall. The council meeting will be moved to Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in the council chambers. The school closure also means that Corner High’s basketball home game with Walker will be called off, as will Fultondale’s wrestling match at McAdory.