MOBILE, Alabama -- Rev. Robert Gulledge was checking on some of his neighbors after an apparent tornado hit Midtown Mobile this evening, when he came across the badly damaged Murphy High School.

Spanish tiles from the roof of the historic school, a landmark of Mobile, were ripped off, scattered throughout the parking lot.

All but one of the portable classrooms out back were gone. “It was mostly match sticks and splinters,” Gulledge said of the remaining debris.

And by other witness accounts, the athletic facility is damaged. Windows have been blown out. This evening, crews with the Mobile County Public School System are out assessing the damage at Murphy, which is one of the state's largest schools with more than 2,000 students.

The roof of Murphy's band hall had shifted off its supporting walls, with big chunks of it ripped open to the sky.

The father of a French horn player, Gulledge immediately thought of the instruments, the band uniforms, and what, if anything, could be saved inside the band hall. He called a booster who has a key to the building, and they called a couple of more folks, who showed up to the school to help.

About two dozen people braved the threat of more storms. An official with the school gave them about 15 minutes to save whatever they could before they had to get out.

They quickly moved the woodwinds and other, smaller instruments onto the band’s moving truck, which somehow was safely snug between the band hall and gym.

As they filled up the truck, another section of the ceiling caved in.

It was dark, and they didn’t know the condition of the rest of the school. So they moved the bigger instruments – including the xylophones – to a dry section of the band hall.

“We didn’t have time to inventory everything between alarms going off,” said Gulledge, pastor at Government Street Methodist Church.

“The good news is that it wasn’t during school hours. No kids were in there,” Gulledge said. “The building is pretty trashed.”

The band uniforms were intact, still in their closet. They can be dry cleaned, Gulledge said.

So far, there have been no reports of fatalities or major injuries in the Christmas evening storm. Officials with the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency said Midtown Mobile, and the Loop were among the hardest areas hit. An apparent tornado also touched down in Tillman's Corner, Brookley Field and in Mobile's medical district, hitting Mobile Infirmary.

Emergency officials are encouraging residents to stay safe at home, and not be out looking at the storm damage, as more bad weather is heading this way.

In Murphy's band room, “All of the cases, the saxophones, trombones, all of the clarinets, and woodwinds, and some of the big bass drums, most of that we got on the truck,” said Brent Ericson, who came to help. “What we could not get loaded onto the truck was moved to a dry part of the room, and we’re hoping the roof is still there tomorrow morning.”