Mobile's Midtown residents survey damage from Christmas Day storm

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Wednesday morning, folks in the Midtown area of Mobile got their first real look at the damage left behind by the Christmas Day tornado that tore through the area.

Daylight revealed the twister's path of destruction and, a day later on Dec. 26, residents like Jim Fibbe were out assessing and cleaning up.

“We just got in the closet and put a mattress type thing over us and listened to it go over and heard it banging stuff into the house and knocking holes in the glass… parts of the roof pealing off,” Fibbe recalled.  “It was very frightening.”

Fibbe hunkered down with his wife in his Silverwood home as the tornado ripped apart his workshop and many of his neighbor’s homes.  Just across the street, a house had its roof ripped off.  Two doors down, another family home of over 50 years was destroyed.

The destruction continued for blocks.

Photos: Midtown area struck by tornado

The worst damage in the Silverwood area was to a home at the corner of Springhill Ave. and Silverwood Rd. The house only had a couple of walls left standing and trees covered the yard. Luckily, the family who lived there moved out just a month ago.

Although the house was vacant, Glen Davidson and his family returned to see the damage from the storm.

“All I can imagine is it would have been pure hell… going through that or getting in the basement or trying to survive that,” Davidson said.  “I just cannot imagine. Christmas Day, you know… we probably would have been asleep on the sofa or something like that, you know. It’s a total loss and a scary looking place right now.”

Related: City assesses storm damage

As city and power crews worked to clear the streets and restore power, residents cleaned up their yards.  Many of those who had no damage were walking the streets offering coffee and snacks to their neighbors or jumping in to help.

“It’s so sad,” remarked Beverly Alexander. “The people are out. Everybody’s out in the neighborhood helping. They’ve got their rakes. Everybody’s out here working, so we’re proud of that.”

And with that pride and determination, Midtown residents are already working hard to pull their lives back together.