Meteorologist learns on air that his Alabama home was struck by a tornado. ‘It’s bad’

Meteorologist James Spann was well into his coverage of severe storms that spawned deadly tornadoes in Alabama on Thursday when he came to a troubling realization — his home had taken a direct hit.

Spann, a weather veteran and chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 News in Birmingham, stepped away mid-broadcast to check on his wife, who was sheltering in place at their Shelby County home.

“What I’m doing is texting my wife to be sure she’s in the shelter,” Spann said off camera as fellow 33/40 meteorologist Taylor Sarallo briefly took over the broadcast, videos posted online show. “Let me check on some folks real quick.”

A line of intense storms cut across the Deep South on Thursday, killing at least five people in one Alabama county and leaving a path of destruction.

Multiple twisters touched down in the state, but the exact number is still unclear, Jason Holmes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, told McClatchy News on Friday morning.

After stepping away from the broadcast to call his wife, Spann returned about 15 minutes later, AL.com reported.

“It’s not a good situation ... and the reason I had to step out — we’ve had major damage at my house,” he told viewers. “My wife is OK, but the tornado came right through there and it’s not good. It’s bad.”

Later in the broadcast, Spann showed a photo of several trees uprooted in his backyard. He also shared images of reported damage in nearby neighborhoods, showing homes with roofs ripped off and others that had been reduced to rubble.

“I’ll shoot straight with you guys, that’s my backyard,” he said. “It’s been a rough day. Very rough day.”

Thoughts and well wishes poured in for the veteran meteorologist, who’s been covering weather at the Birmingham station since its inception in 1996, according to The Washington Post. Spann took to social media Thursday to thank everyone who reached out, saying his wife was unharmed after taking cover in their in-home shelter.

He said their house was “intact,” minus a few lost trees, and that they wouldn’t have to rebuild. Spann also urged viewers to “consider helping others across the state who have much more serious damage.”

“Had a scare today,” he wrote on Twitter. “As I often say, tornadoes happen to real people, at a real place, at a real time.”