TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – As each day brings the United States closer to peak severe weather season, Tornado Alley residents are facing a difficult question: Is it better to take on a twister outside a community shelter or to face the possibility of contracting the new coronavirus inside one?
So far, sheltering from deadly weather appears to be taking precedent over staying away from a potentially deadly disease, but not for everyone.
In north Alabama, where powerful tornadoes killed dozens in recent years, a little more than 700 people showed up at three shelters — a turnout that was actually larger than usual, due to especially dire storm predictions — when potentially dangerous weather threatened the Tennessee Valley in late March.