ABC 33/40 and Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa's iconic chief meteorologist James Spann had to step away early from his wall-to-wall weather coverage of severe weather Thursday afternoon after he received news that his own home had been hit by a tornado.

Spann pulled himself away from hours-long coverage of a supercell storm that crossed the entire state of Alabama Thursday to speak with his wife. Thankfully, she was OK after taking cover in a nearby tornado shelter.

Spann's home in Shelby County, though, did not fare as well.

"The reason I had to step out, we had major damage at my house," Spann said as soon as he returned on air. "I had to be sure -- my wife is OK, but the tornado came right through there and it's not good, it's bad. It's bad."

Although he said his house sustained major damage, Spann quickly went back to work tracking the storms coming through West Alabama.

[Townsquare Media is the parent company of this website.]

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