Alabama family spends night in former jail cell after mobile home destroyed by tornado
Updated: 11:59 AM CDT Mar 19, 2025
MAGDALA. THANK YOU. NOW, MAJOR STORM CLEANUP UNDERWAY AT A SHELBY COUNTY BUSINESS AND A DISPLACED FAMILY HAD TO SPEND THE NIGHT IN WHAT USED TO BE A JAIL CELL. WVTM 13 JON PAEPCKE JOINS US NOW LIVE AT BURTON CAMPUS WITH BOTH THOSE STORIES. AND, JOHN, I KNOW THERE WAS A LOT OF DAMAGED INVENTORY THERE. YEAH, A LOT OF THE DAMAGE IS ACTUALLY A LOT WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT IT WAS WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED HERE, ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER THE STORM HIT ON SATURDAY NIGHT. THE GENERAL MANAGER HERE AT BURTON CAMPUS, JOHNNY GARNER, TELLS ME THAT 70 OF THEIR CAMPERS WERE IMPACTED, 44 OF WHICH, LIKE THIS ONE, WHICH IS COMPLETELY RIPPED OPEN, ARE A TOTAL LOSS. THAT’S THE ONE THAT YOU SAID WAS HERE JUST FOR ONE WINDOW REPAIR. BURTON CAMPUS GENERAL MANAGER JOHNNY GARNER GAVE US A PERSONAL TOUR OF THE WRECKAGE LEFT BEHIND BY SATURDAY’S TORNADO. THAT PINNACLE THAT YOU WERE JUST POINTING AT, THAT WAS HERE FOR ONE WINDOW REPAIR, AND NOW IT’S A TOTAL LOSS. A MASSIVE FIFTH WHEEL CAMPER FLATTENED BY WINDS NEARLY 100 MILES PER HOUR. 70 RVS IN ALL WERE DAMAGED, AND THE REAR OF THIS MAINTENANCE BUILDING COLLAPSED. THE STORM BLEW THROUGH AROUND 815 SATURDAY NIGHT. MOMENTS AFTER DOING DAMAGE NEAR DOWNTOWN CALERA, MUCH OF THIS MOBILE HOME WAS BLOWN APART. NOT LONG AFTER TIM STRIEGEL EVACUATED IT WITH HIS DAUGHTER TO A NEIGHBOR’S BASEMENT. JUST MINUTES AFTER WE LEFT THE TRAILER, IT WAS HIT. JUST THAT QUICK. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD HESITATED? I WOULDN’T BE HERE TALKING TO YOU. AFTER UNSUCCESSFULLY TRYING TO FIND HIM A HOTEL ROOM THROUGH THE RED CROSS, CALERA, POLICE OFFERED TO LET HIM SLEEP IN ONE OF THEIR FORMER JAIL CELLS. I COULDN’T GET NO REST IN A IN A JAIL CELL, SO I JUST PRETTY MUCH DIDN’T SLEEP THAT NIGHT. FORTUNATELY, STRIEGEL TOOK OUT AN INSURANCE POLICY ON HIS MOBILE HOME THE DAY BEFORE THE STORM. PERFECT TIMING, WHICH CONTINUED WITH HIS QUICK EVACUATION A DAY LATER. IT’S JUST LIKE DIVINE GUIDANCE GUIDING MY MIND TO GET THAT POLICY AND GET US OUT OF THAT TRAILER. WHEN IT DID, IT WOULD HAVE BUSTED THAT INNER WALL. GARNER SAID THEY HAD SHUT DOWN FOR THE DAY AT NOON AHEAD OF THE STORMS, SO NONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES WERE ON SITE WHEN THE WINDS TOSSED AROUND MUCH OF HIS INVENTORY LIKE TOYS. IT’S HARD TO LOOK AT IT AND AND NOT CRY. SO JUST, YOU KNOW, TRY TO BE A LIGHT HEARTED ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW? NOW, TIM STEGALL, MORE GOOD NEWS FOR HIM, ACTUALLY. HE TELLS ME A CALERA CITY EMPLOYEE HAS ARRANGED FOR HIM TO HAVE EIGHT NIGHTS IN A LOCAL HOTEL. PLUS, THAT NEW INSURANCE POLICY THAT HE SIGNED UP FO
Alabama family spends night in former jail cell after mobile home destroyed by tornado
Updated: 11:59 AM CDT Mar 19, 2025
A storm that hit Alabama on Saturday night destroyed a mobile home and forced a family to spend the night in a former jail cell."Just minutes after we left the trailer, it was hit, just that quick," Tim Striegel said."What do you think would have happened if you hesitated?" Jon Paepcke, a reporter at sister station WVTM asked."I wouldn't be here talking to you," Striegel replied.The storm blew through around 8:15 p.m., causing significant damage near downtown Calera.Much of Striegel's mobile home was blown apart shortly after he and his daughter evacuated to a neighbor's basement.After unsuccessfully trying to find a hotel room through the Red Cross, Calera police offered Striegel a place to sleep in one of their former jail cells."I couldn't get no rest in a jail cell. So I just pretty much didn't sleep that night," Striegel said.Fortunately, Striegel had taken out an insurance policy on his mobile home the day before the storm, which proved to be perfect timing given the quick evacuation a day later.
CALERA, Ala. — A storm that hit Alabama on Saturday night destroyed a mobile home and forced a family to spend the night in a former jail cell.
"Just minutes after we left the trailer, it was hit, just that quick," Tim Striegel said.
"What do you think would have happened if you hesitated?" Jon Paepcke, a reporter at sister station WVTM asked.
"I wouldn't be here talking to you," Striegel replied.
The storm blew through around 8:15 p.m., causing significant damage near downtown Calera.
Much of Striegel's mobile home was blown apart shortly after he and his daughter evacuated to a neighbor's basement.
After unsuccessfully trying to find a hotel room through the Red Cross, Calera police offered Striegel a place to sleep in one of their former jail cells.
"I couldn't get no rest in a jail cell. So I just pretty much didn't sleep that night," Striegel said.
Fortunately, Striegel had taken out an insurance policy on his mobile home the day before the storm, which proved to be perfect timing given the quick evacuation a day later.