The March 21, 1932 Alabama Tornado Outbreak: Columbiana

In March 1932, Columbiana, the county seat of Shelby County had a population of 1,180. It was a trading center for the surrounding agricultural areas of Central Alabama. People were optimistic that 1932 would be better than 1931. They didn’t think that 1932 could be any worse than the previous year. The newspapers said that there were definite signs that the economy would be out of the woods by December.

Besides the economy, there was plenty of other bad news in March 1932. The nation had been shocked by the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby early in the month. They had followed the sensational story in the newspapers and on the radio all month, but the child had not been found by the 21st. The Presidential race was beginning to heat up. New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt was expected to be the Democratic candidate for President.

President Herbert Hoover was arguably the most hated man in America. People felt like the Federal Government was not doing enough to relieve the suffering. Birmingham was suffering more than most, with well over 125,000 residents unemployed by early March 1932. Steel was big business in the Magic City, where bad times hit first and lasted longer, or so the saying went. To an extent, the lucky people were the ones who lived on the productive farms across Central Alabama. At least they could provide for their families. To them, the depression was a city problem.

There were no television weather broadcasts, or NOAA weatheradio stations in 1932. But people knew the weather was going to be bad that warm, windy and cloudy March 21st. Cyclone weather, the old folks said. They kept a nervous eye to the sky, and called the children in early, unlike the day before, which had been beautiful. A Columbiana man, Parker Shealy, had sold his dog several days before to a man named Homer Bearden. The dog had just weaned a litter of puppies. Even though the dog had been gone for awhile, it showed back up at the Shealy place that Monday afternoon and climbed in the kennel with her puppies. That mama dog knew something bad was coming.

As a powerful thunderstorm approached Columbiana around during the afternoon, it dropped a tornado southwest of town. About 5:10 p.m., it roared with a terribly fury over the hill from Calera. As it reached the western part of the town, its path was 200 yards wide. Wilburn Lynn would say that “huge timbers 200 feet in the air was what told us it was a twister.” Standing on his porch in downtown, he saw the fast moving funnel shaped cloud enveloping the edge of town. When the tornado passed, he ran to the areas where it had hit. He would find all of the homes razed there.

John Atcheson, Jr.’s family had left their home to go to his father house because of the weather. The tornado blew their house to bits. The Walton’s had just moved to Columbiana in October. Theirs was one of the first house to be destroyed. Mr. and Mrs. Walton were killed. The home of Bob Howell on West Sterett Street was completely swept away. Even the timbers were gone. The mother and two children were killed. Mr. Howell and two other children were hospitalized. In the aftermath of the tornado, bits of clothing were left sticking to trees in the middle of the path of destruction. The electrical plant was knocked off line, plunging the city and much of the county into darkness. The inky blackness and heavy rain hampered rescue. The Columbiana tornado was one of fourteen devastating tornadoes that killed over 300 people across the state that day. Fourteen people died in this tornado, which was likely rated as an F4. More all weekend……

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