The 2002 Abbeville Election Day Tornado

November 5, 2002 was Election Day in Alabama. The Governor’s Race was a hotly contested one between Democratic Incumbent Don Siegleman and Republican challenger Bob Riley. As some residents of the Southeast Alabama town of Abbeville watched election returns, meteorologists were competing for airtime. Severe weather was breaking out over the Wiregrass. A supercell thunderstorm exploded over Dale County. It produced a tornado that cut a two mile path from near Echo to near Bertha. The only fatalities were two goats.

As the storm approached Henry County, the NWS in Tallahassee issued a superbly worded Tornado Warning at 5:23 p.m., specifically warning people in Abbeville that they were in danger. Television stations interrupted the election coverage with the tornado warning.

At 5:45 p.m., another tornado sizzled down from the supercell, touching down near US-431 just west of downtown Abbeville. The twister grew in size and power as it tore through the center of town, destroying homes and businesses and severely damaging the high school. One third of the buildings and homes in the town were damaged. Trees and power lines fell on city streets. Nearly the entire town was without electricity. A total of twenty people were injured. One man died when the tornado destroyed his home on Rock Hill Circle.

The fatality spoiled the perfect record that Alabama had going in 2002. It would be followed less than a week later by a major tornado outbreak that killed 12 people in the state.

Spring time is the main season for tornadoes in Alabama, but there is a secondary tornado season in the fall that many people do not think about. 2002 would mark the third straight year that the secondary tornado season of November and December in Alabama proved to be the most deadly.

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