Jerry Mays, the town's mayor, said the tornado that destroyed the town's grocery store and medical clinic was a half-mile wide and travelled for about 20 miles (32km).

BBC: US tornadoes: Barack Obama shocked by devastation

Today, a year later, a huge weed-filled lot now sits where one Tuscaloosa neighborhood used to be -- part of the huge mile-wide swath that the tornado cut through town at McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street.

CNN: Tornado survivors rebuild, a year later

An EF2 tornado devastated the nearby town of Marysville.

CNN: Cleanup begins after tornado outbreaks