Christmas storms leave damage scattered across Alabama

Residents of old neighborhoods ripped apart by Christmas Day tornadoes wrapped up in coats and pulled on gloves for warmth Wednesday, the sound of screaming chainsaws replacing the scary roar of tornadoes that left damage scattered across much of Alabama. With only a handful of injuries and no deaths reported statewide from the storms, the head of the state’s emergency response said it was difficult to fathom how the toll wasn’t worse. "I think we had a lot of tornadoes that were capable of producing damage. We’re just very fortunate this morning for whatever reason that it wasn’t worse," Art Faulkner, director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, said after surveying storm-tossed areas in Mobile. It was the second time in five days a twister hit Mobile; a small tornado left damage along a trail 7 miles long on Dec. 20.