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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Leigh Coxwell stands in front of Western Supermarket in Mountain Brook Village, which was without power after major storms Tuesday Night.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Traffic was flowing slowly near the Birmingham Zoo when the red lights at Cahaba Road and Culver Road were knocked out after storms Tuesday night.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Starbucks on Culver Road was closed without power after storms Tuesday night.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Mountain Brook Creamery hooked up a generator to keep its ice cream cold during the power outage.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Several plants were toppled by strong winds at Leaf n Petal Tuesday night.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Several plants were toppled by strong winds at Leaf n Petal Tuesday night.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Traffic lights at U.S. 280 and Office Park were out of service, backing up morning traffic.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Traffic heading into Birmingham was backed up on U.S. 280 by out of service traffic lights.
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Sydney Cromwell
Power outages
Sneaky Pete's was among many Mountain Brook businesses closed due to power outages.
A sudden storm arrived late Tuesday evening, bringing winds up to 70 miles per hour and heavy rains. Much of Mountain Brook lost power for part of the night, and several roads were blocked by downed trees and limbs, including in the Cherokee Bend and Crestline areas.
While most of the debris were removed overnight and early Wednesday morning, several areas remained without power. Some traffic lights were out and significantly slowing traffic, including at the intersection of U.S. 280 and Office Park and the Cahaba Road and Culver Road intersection near the zoo.
About half of Mountain Brook Village was still dark as of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Leigh Coxwell of Western Supermarket was standing outside the store informing customers that they had no power. He said the electricity had been out since 8 p.m. Tuesday, and had no idea when power would return.
“All they [Alabama Power] can say is that there are trucks in Mountain Brook. That’s as much as we know,” Coxwell said.
Mountain Brook Creamery was running power from a generator on the sidewalk to keep their ice cream cold. The Starbucks on Cahaba Road was closed, with a paper sign on the door informing passersby that they were without power. Leaf n Petal had rows of plants toppled over on one side of the building.
Another Broken Egg Cafe and some neighboring shops, including Sneaky Pete's, were also waiting for electricity to resume business. Another Broken Egg general manager Justin Hadley said he had already turned away several people hoping for breakfast.
A few shops away, however, Gilchrist's never lost power. Shaina Freeman, who works there, said she had seen a lot of debris in the roads while driving to work, but Gilchrist's suffered no damage.
Realty South, located across the street, had electricity as well, but employee Gretchen Britt said she saw more damage on her way to work from her home in Shelby County. She noted that the power outages seemed almost random. Britt drove by the Lockerbie Drive area and saw one street where half the homes had power and half did not.
“It’s kind of scattered,” Britt said.
Power at the Western shopping center was restored in early afternoon, but some homes in the area were still without power as of mid-afternoon Wednesday.
