Thanks for the information. I don't know anything new.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/162050.shtml?
At 4:00 CDT it was 25 miles SSW of Birmingham moving NNE at 14 mph, putting it over Birmingham at about 6:00 CDT with 60 mph winds and higher gusts. The NOAA site I posted earlier was last updated at 12:53 CDT so I guess the airport lost power before 1:53 when the next conditions would have been posted.
I will call my cousin in a few hours and report back... he is on top of a large hill so no flooding danger but in that position he was worried about the wind. What a year!!!