Tornado affects family-owned Calera business

Yahoo

18-03-2025

CALERA, Ala. (WIAT) — Calera was hit by an EF-1 tornado Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. There were no injuries reported in the city or the county.
Burton Campers off I-65, however, took a major hit. General manager Jody Garner said 65 to 75 RVs sustained damage or were destroyed.
Drone video shot by Mike Bullard on Sunday shows the scope of the devastation to the RV lot from above.
'That's a travel trailer that's flipped up on top of a Seismic,' Garner explained while walking through the service lot.
Garner said cleanup on the ground at Burton Campers is underway in the aftermath of the tornado, which flipped RVs over and tipped some onto each other.
He said 60% of those affected by the tornado were parked here for the winter or for service.
'The worst thing about it is these people had trips and family and kids, and they were ready to go enjoy their summer,' Garner said.
Garner said the business lost three sheds in the storm. It decided to close by noon Saturday and sent all its employees home.
'I'm just super excited that God blessed us all and kept us safe,' Garner said. 'This stuff can be repaired and, hopefully, the insurance is going to take care of everybody and get them in units.'
It re-opened to customers by appointment only Monday.
Alabama community devastated by tornado comes together like never before
Employees at the National Weather Service office in Calera did not have the option of leaving work Saturday. They were standing in its severe weather shelter, something that hasn't happened since April 27, 2011.
'Emotions were very high for multiple reasons,' NWS meteorologist Tara Goggins said.
'One, you're a little nervous,' Goggins continued. ''Hey, we're about to get hit by a tornado.''
She also said it had employees in direct path that it was trying to get in touch with. Goggins said its Atlanta office briefly took over operations, and its office did not take a hit.
Calera Police Chief David Hyche said police ended up putting up a family and its pets at the city's police station early Sunday morning after their home was destroyed in the tornado. He thinks this is a gap that needs to be addressed.
'In a smaller event like this where the tornado hit sporadically, and there were not huge numbers of people affected, I think we need to be conscious about taking care of those people in the first few hours after the disaster before the Red Cross and the churches can get activated and come out and provide a little more longer duration help,' Hyche said.
The American Red Cross does not send out staff while there is still severe weather taking place, according to regional director of communications Annette Rowland.
Hyche said they tried to make the family as comfortable as possible in the jail, where it had access to snacks and beverages, and it was not placed in the area where criminals are typically placed.
Hyche said that the city's maintenance director has paid for a hotel room for the family and its pets for eight days out of his own pocket. The man who lost his home works for the city of Calera.
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