Severe storms roared through southern states Thursday night into Friday, including in Alabama, where five were reportedly killed and homes were destroyed.
Long-track tornadoes ripped through communities including that of Alabama's legendary Chief Meteorologist James Spann.
Spann began his career as a meteorologist in 1978 at WCFT in Tuscaloosa and by the age of 23 became the youngest weatherman to be named chief. Spann has devoted his life to keeping the public safe when mother nature strikes. He's covered some of the most notable severe weather events in history, including the 2011 Super Outbreak and the 2020 Easter Outbreak, when 21 tornadoes touched down.
But Thursday, his voice was not just being used to warn the public, but also his own family. This came as Spann was doing wall-to-wall coverage of the tornado outbreak, in which one passed directly over north Shelby County, where his home is located.
This caused his wife to head to her designated tornado shelter where she was thankfully protected from the twister. After the storm had passed, Spann's wife walked out to find damage to their home.
The newsroom alerted Spann of what had occurred while he was on the air. He calmly passed over the reigns to another meteorologist and took five minutes to check on his family and home. Upon returning, Spann stated, "We had a tornado that caused a lot of damage around our home today. Pretty scary time. My wife got a warning. She had a plan. She was in the shelter and she's fine. "
He went on to explain that the house is still intact and that he does not want anyone to worry about him but to consider helping those who are homeless, injured, or have lost loved ones.
After the brief update, he went right back to educating the public on the threat, surely saving more lives across the state.
James Spann continues his legacy and, if you ask me, earned another title: Weather Superhero.
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