HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (WAFF) – Emergency crews are still working to repair the extensive damage caused by an EF-2 tornado at Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville in May.
Over 200 gravestones were damaged by the tornado.
Six historical monuments have been restored by the authorities, but several still need repairs.
Cemetery director Tara Sloan said she hoped most of the damage would be repaired by October before the annual cemetery walk.
The city does not use tax dollars for restoration work because the monuments are private property, so the city relies heavily on its partnership with the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association to fund repairs to the historic portion through donations.
The cemetery is working with preservationist Skip Stinson to repair the damaged monuments. Sloan said it would take time to repair all of the historic monuments.
“It depends on the type of break that the monument suffered and its age or how extensive the damage was,” Sloan said. “Are there any parts that are still intact that can be used to repair the monument or was it just demolished? So it’s going to take a different amount of time. If the monument is very large or has fairly large breaks, those will have to be repaired by a monument company.”
The wall at the corner of Maple Hill was destroyed by the tornado, but the cemetery is working with the Pilgrimage Association to put the stones back there.
Sloan said the families whose loved ones are buried in the cemetery have been a great help in the repair work.
“It took a village,” Sloan said. “I couldn’t have done this so far without the help of the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association and the cooperation of the community. I know it was a very difficult time when the cemetery was closed for a week while we tried to clean up as much as we could so we could reopen it and people could visit their loved ones. I’m just so grateful for everyone’s patience and grace during this difficult time.”
According to official reports, 150 trees were also destroyed by the storm.
Sloan says trying to remove all the tree damage took a lot of hard work.
“We have some very large tree stumps that were completely uprooted,” Sloan said. “Removing them from the cemetery was much more difficult, just because of their size and also because of where they are on some of the properties. We have to be careful when we use heavy equipment on cemetery property. So I want to remove them, put the wall back up and make progress on some of our historic monuments.”
She also said that tree work at the cemetery was still ongoing.
“We still have some trees that have dangerous branches in them that our arborists are removing,” Sloan said. “Hopefully in the spring we can work with the Pilgrim Association to continue to expand our tree canopy and do a major planting.”
Sloan said the families are very grateful for their efforts after the storm.
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