Campus Alert Archive
Wallace State

An EF2 Bent Eight Power Poles and Peeled Roofs at a Cullman County Community College

ALtornadoemergency notificationmedium confidence

During the April 27, 2011 Super Outbreak, an EF2 tornado tracked more than 30 miles through Cullman County, Alabama, reaching Hanceville and Wallace State Community College with peak winds estimated near 120 mph. The storm bent eight metal power poles over at their bases and tore metal roofing from several campus buildings, blew windows out of a mid-rise under construction, and caused additional minor damage to a high-rise. The college sat in one of the day's many simultaneous tornado paths across Alabama.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Wallace State Community College
Community College · AL
~7,000 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction199 chars
WALLACE STATE ALERT: Due to the severe weather threat and tornado watch, the College is closed today. All classes and activities are cancelled. Seek a safe shelter and monitor local weather warnings.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed wording: no verbatim Wallace State alert text was located, so this paraphrases a routine severe-weather closure notice for the high-risk April 27, 2011 outbreak day in north Alabama.
The April 27 outbreak was so widely forecast that many Alabama schools and colleges closed preemptively, which is why this is framed as a morning closure ahead of the afternoon tornado.
The Hanceville EF2 was one of several tornadoes to cross Cullman County that day, part of a multi-wave event the NWS Huntsville office documented in detail.
FOLLOW-UPEmail+1d
Approximate reconstruction248 chars
WALLACE STATE UPDATE: The Hanceville campus sustained tornado damage, including downed power poles and roof damage to several buildings. The campus remains closed. Do not come to campus. Updates on reopening will be sent by email and posted online.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed wording. The Cullman Tribune and NWS damage survey confirmed bent power poles and torn metal roofing on the Wallace State campus.
Treated as a follow-up keeping the campus closed, not an all-clear, because power and building damage made the campus unsafe to occupy.
No injuries were reported on the Wallace State campus, in part because the college had closed for the day before the tornado arrived.
Context

Background

Community colleges rarely appear in campus-alert archives, but they faced the same April 27, 2011 outbreak that devastated Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. In Cullman County, an EF2 tornado moved roughly 30 miles from near Cold Springs through Hanceville with a half-mile-wide damage path and peak winds near 120 mph, striking Wallace State Community College. The NWS damage survey and local reporting documented eight metal power poles bent over at their bases, metal roofing torn from several buildings, and blown-out windows on a mid-rise under construction. No campus injuries were reported, which local accounts attribute partly to the college being closed amid the day's extreme severe-weather threat. The case is a reminder that the 2011 Super Outbreak was a statewide campus emergency, not just a Tuscaloosa story, and that two-year institutions used their notification systems to close preemptively and then manage post-storm damage and reopening.
Analysis

Key Findings

An EF2 tornado struck Wallace State Community College in Hanceville during the April 27, 2011 Super Outbreak
Damage included eight bent metal power poles, torn metal roofing on several buildings, and blown-out windows on a building under construction
No campus injuries were reported, partly because the college had closed ahead of the high-risk weather day
The case documents how a community college — a type rarely represented in alert archives — managed a severe-weather closure and post-storm communication
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Early Morning Hollypond EF2 April 27th, 2011 Tornado - National Weather Service Huntsville
    weather.gov
  2. News
    The April 27, 2011 Cullman County tornadoes: official reports - The Cullman Tribune
    cullmantribune.com
  3. News
    Five years later, Hanceville tornado brings back emotions - The Cullman Times
    cullmantimes.com
Tags
tornadosevere-weatheralabamacommunity-collegehanceville2011-super-outbreakcampus-closure2011
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion