The Deadly Enigma — Strange Alabama

Over 130 years ago, a series of deadly storms passed through the state of Alabama. At least thirteen people were killed in the state and possibly as many as 2000 in the United States after the most deadly and widespread storms ever swept through the nation.

On February 19, 1884 the temperature was slightly warm for Alabama and hovered just below fifty degrees. Rain was in the forecast but residents in Leeds were unaware that a deadly storm loomed just beyond their community.

At 1:20 pm a massive twister struck packing winds of more than 200 miles per hour. Indiana's Fort Wayne Daily Gazette covered the storms and reported that John Pool and his daughter Dora Alice were killed. Genealogy records confirm their deaths around that time and also show that his 15 year old son Lewis died within days of the storm.

Using newspaper accounts, modern meteorologists rank the tornado that struck Leeds an F4. The exact death toll from the massive tornado outbreak has been lost to time because of the lack of records kept during that period.