Hackleburg’s NAPA Auto Parts store lays in a mangled pile of sheet metal and rubbage while the town’s old water tower stands defiantly in the distance. The Hackleburg water tower survived the April 27, 2011, EF-5 tornado as well as the April 12, 1943, EF-4 tornado. Both tornadoes leveled the town
HACKLEBURG - “It’s amazing how in nine years how many people have moved on to different things in their lives,” says Hackleburg Mayor Darryl Colburn as he sits behind his desk at Hackleburg Town Hall.
Details of Wednesday, April 27, 2011, and the years of work that followed flowed effortlessly from Colburn’s memory during a discussion with town councilman Don Barnwell. There was no effort reproducing stories, either, for Barnwell.
For Hackleburg, remembering the events of April 27, 2011, normally has involved gathering together to form a human cross in the middle of Highway 43 and special commemorations during the town’s annual Neighbor Day festival.
Neither of those were possible this year as the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in social-distancing restrictions, preventing groups of 10 or more from gathering and requiring people to keep six feet between one another.
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