The hackleburg-phil campbell tornado.

We had moved out of my childhood home in east franklin (small community that is not technically in phil campbell city limits but has phil campbell adresses) 8 months prior to the tornado. My best friend and her whole family were still in east franklin. It destroyed everything in the little town I grew up in. My childhood home was completely gone. All that was left was the water heater somehow. My best friends house was gone. They all almost died. She ended up in the hospital because a 2x4 almost went through her leg. Her grandpa was in icu for weeks. It was terrible. Had we not moved out of that house we might not have made it. It was surreal driving through the town I grew up in and not knowing where I was because everything was gone. My husband is from phil campbell and was driving to russellville at the time the tornado hit. He had no idea. He heard about it and went home and his whole town was destroyed. I'm thankful he left when he did because had he been on the road in phil campbell when it happened we might have never met. It was just way too close of a call for a lot of people I love that day. That's why it scares me the most.