Alabama is in store for a very wet Christmas, and forecasters are currently tracking the threat of severe storms and possible tornadoes. The National Weather Service in Birmingham has indicated parts of central and southern Alabama will be at risk of severe weather Wednesday afternoon and evening. Strong storms may produce tornadoes along with golf ball-size hail, 70 mile per hour winds. John De Block is the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Birmingham. He offers some simple safety advice in the event of severe weather.
“Get in, get down, get low, and cover up. Get in your house, get in a building, get to the lowest level of the building, and then cover up. Protect your head and your body with as much as you can, as possible. Put as many walls as you can between you and the approaching weather.”
De Block also recommends making sure any out-of-town guests traveling in for the holidays are aware of the severe weather threat.
A private company is going into the solar power business in Alabama. ACE L-L-C Solar is building a solar panel park near Elkmont. The one acre facility is expected to generate enough power to light fifty homes a day. The company will sell its electricity to Tennessee Valley Authority. The Decatur Daily report PJ Kraft Enterprises out of Baton Rouge is developing the nearly seven thousand dollar power park. Kraft invests in renewable energy projects. Construction began last month and it’s expected to be in operation by January.
With Christmas just around the corner, a new study has some disquieting news on people in need in Alabama. The internet site WalletHub ranked one hundred and fifty cities with the most residents facing issues like poverty and food insecurity. Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham ranked near the bottom. WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzales says Birmingham’s child poverty rate is as bad as in Detroit and Cleveland…
“Forty nine point two percent of all children there are living below the poverty line. Almost half of all children there. When you’re looking at adults it’s almost a quarter. And those two metrics really, really were down here near one hundred and fifty, which is the last city that we looked at.” `
Unemployment and homelessness were other issues in the study. Birmingham ranked one hundred and forty two out of the top one hundred and fifty cities for people in need. Mobile was one hundred and twenty eight, Montgomery was one hundred and twenty three. Huntsville scored best in Alabama at one hundred and six. ?
How do you maintain security and spread some holiday cheer? Officials at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport have an idea on that. Passengers can get their gifts wrapped at no charge. Starting today through Christmas Eve, complimentary gift wrappers will be at work for passengers who have cleared the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. The TSA encourages passengers to travel with unwrapped gifts for screening. Airport officials says its intended to help travelers check one more item off their to-do list. ?
