Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Serving the University of Alabama since 1894
Vol. 117, Issue 120
A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY
CW | Drew Hoover The April 27 tornado passed directly through the Forest Lake neighborhood, leaving nothing but scattered rubble where many houses once stood. In this photo, only the cinder block outline of a house remains.
Tuscaloosa looks to rebuild Relief efforts
mobilize across the county
By Jonathan Reed Managing Editor jonathanreedcw@gmail.com Shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, the face of Tuscaloosa was dramatically changed. An EF-4 tornado, with winds upwards of 190 mph, cut a gash six miles long and half a mile wide through the middle of the city, stretching from the Rosedale housing project near I-359 through the neighborhoods of Alberta and Holt. As of Tuesday morning, city officials confirmed that 40 people in the Tuscaloosa area were killed, though some officials expect that number to rise as more areas are searched. The storm system also hit Birmingham, Huntsville, Cullman and other communities in Alabama, as well as Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi. The tornado demolished homes and businesses from Rosedale through Forest Lake, 15th Street, Alberta and Holt before continuing for another 80 miles and hitting Birmingham. As residents pick up the pieces, the city looks ahead to a recovery that will take months and years, not days.
“Beyond a nightmare”
NLINE
UA senior James Fowler,
CW | Kelsey Stein Volunteers drive down Crescent Ridge Road in Holt, distributing food, water and other necessities to residents. By Stephen Walker Staff Reporter stephenwalker1986@gmail.com Photo courtesy of Houston Foreman Furniture and debris line 13th Street after the devestating April 27 tornado. former president of the Student Government Assosication, was at the Delta Kappa Epsilon house on University Boulevard when the tornado hit. Fowler watched as the tornado formed on the other side of BryantDenny Stadium, and then saw
the destruction afterward on 15th Street. “You can see clear from the Wendy’s on 15th to Midtown Village,” he said Wednesday night. “There’s nothing there. The trees and the buildings are all gone.”
On 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard, the tornado leveled restaurants and businesses familiar to UA students. That night, word spread quickly that Milo’s Hamburgers, Full Moon
See AFTERMATH, page 2
Supplies and donations continue to pour in for victims of the deadly tornado that destroyed parts of Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, April 27. Organizations such as the Red Cross and United Way have seen a continuous flow of donations into relief funds since shortly after the disaster happened. “We did a telethon on ABC
33/40 a few nights after the disaster and raised $500,000 in just three hours,” Red Cross spokeswoman Suzanne Horsley said. The money received by the Red Cross will be used to provide basic necessities to those affected by the storm. “The Red Cross provides relief to those in immediate need,” she said. “We provide food, a safe place to stay, clothing and other basic needs.”
See DONATIONS, page 3
View stories, photos, video, an interactive timeline, and a damage map online at cw.ua.edu Professors cope with lost homes
Video: Walt Maddox speaks on recovery
Slideshow of student-submitted photos
2
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
SPECIAL EDITION
The Crimson White
DCH weathers storm safely Counselors By Stephen Walker Staff Reporter stephenwalker1986@gmail.com “Most of it happened all at once,” recalls Brad Fisher, communication director for DCH Health System, of the tornado that came within mere yards of hitting the main building of Tuscaloosa’s largest hospital. “There’s a whole playbook that we go through in order to prepare for disasters like this.” Although the hospital is prepared to respond to the aftermath of a tornado or other disaster hitting the area, it rarely has to prepare to take a direct hit from it. “You have to put in place a plan to handle operations if certain parts of your property are compromised, which ours were,” he said. Just a short time before the deadly, category EF-4 tornado plowed through Tuscaloosa, leaving behind little more than debris, Fisher and other hospital administrators sat in the hospital’s central command center, watching the weather and constructing a plan in case the tornado should become a threat to the hospital. “We were watching [ABC 33/40 meteorologist] James Spann, just like everyone else CW | Kelsey Stein was,” he said. “We were expecting the tornado to bypass DCH Regional Medical Center remains relatively undamaged, despite the destruction of McFarland BouleTuscaloosa, just like everyone vard and 15th Street. else did.” The next thing he remem- the tornado’s damage were the room, 200 visitors a day is a Fisher recalled the exact busy day,” he said. “In one moment when he realized the bers is running through the virtual calm before the storm. “The first visitors were the night, we saw and treated over tornado was going to pose a hospital, checking to see what damage had been done and if walking wounded,” he said. 800.” direct threat to the hospital. Search-and-rescue teams “They brought themselves in. “All of the sudden, it became anyone was injured. “I ran out to see if those in In a situation like this, ambu- have recovered few survivors clear that not only was there going to be a tornado that the cafeteria were OK,” he lances take a while to get to the since the night of the storm, he would create mass casualties, said. “I heard crying, whimper- victims and get back to the hos- said. “To my knowledge, just one but also that it was coming ing and cursing. I heard people pital.” In hours following, the hospi- person has been brought in,” crying who were hiding under directly for us,” he said. tal dealt with the most visitors he said. “It was a fellow who At that point, the hospital tables and scared to death.” got trapped in a camper. He After the tornado passed, ever on a single night. began preparing for a major “We had scores of people was brought in, treated and administrators begin to assess catastrophe. show up just because there was released.” “Patients were taken out of the damages. Without the help of “Up on the sixth and sev- a rumor that there was another their rooms into the hallways, covered with blankets, and told enth floors, we lost glass in six storm coming,” Fisher said. “So Tuscaloosa community memto look away from any win- or seven rooms that imploded we had all these people show bers from all walks of life, dows,” Fisher said. “We ran outward, not inward,” Fisher up at the same time. Some were Fisher believes the hospital around the building, getting said. “The two electrical sub- injured, some weren’t, some wouldn’t have been able to hanvisitors and patients away from stations and main line running came just because it was the dle the large number of people needing assistance that night. to the hospital were damaged. only place that was standing.” the windows.” “I think Tuscaloosa’s mediThat night, the emergency Fisher said he remembered Another problem is that we little about the moment the didn’t have water. Our water room treated approximately 800 cal community did an excellent storm victims, he said. Around job,” he said. “The fact that tornado came within a stone’s supply was hit.” Miraculously, not a single 100 of them were admitted, 13 the medical community put all throw from the main hospital patient, visitor or hospital staff of whom were placed in the hands on deck is just outstandbuilding. intensive care unit. Of the six ing. I’m really proud of the hos“I didn’t hear or see it,” he member was injured. Even though the tornado had deaths, three were adults and pital, but the hospital alone, said. “Everyone says that it even with all its resources, sounds like a train as it passes, passed and no one had been three were infants. “At the DCH emergency could not have done it alone.” injured, the minutes following but I don’t remember that.”
AFTERMATH
Continued from page 1
Bar-B-Que and other locations were completely demolished. Students walked from their homes and apartments to see the area with their own eyes. Thursday morning, the daylight revealed just how widespread the destruction was. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox surveyed the damage from a helicopter. “This is going to be a very long process,” he said Thursday. “The amount of damage done is beyond a nightmare.” Maddox estimated Thursday that the damage would total in the tens of millions of dollars, but by Monday, as the destruction across the city became even more apparent, the estimate for just debris removal became more than $100 million. Across the city, though, the cost of the storm is not only measured in dollars. It’s measured in lives. Six students from the University of Alabama, two students from Shelton State Community College and one
student from Stillman College have been confirmed as being killed in the storm. As of Tuesday, the city confirmed that 40 people were killed. Even six days after the tornado hit, though, that number is not final. Search-and-rescue teams from as far away as Louisiana have continued to comb the debris, and the area of destruction is so vast that it will take a long time before every impacted area is searched, officials said. Teams with cadaver dogs began searching the Holt area Sunday, and many areas of the city and county remain unchecked by search-and-rescue teams. “A lot of folks don’t realize how long this tornado was,” Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge W. Hardy McCollum said Tuesday. “We have about another 15 to 20 miles beyond Eagle Cove Marina that has yet to be searched.” Although that area is sparsely populated, McCollum said debris from Tuscaloosa could have been carried into the area. Maddox said that once the search-and-rescue phase has
ended, likely on Saturday or Sunday, then debris removal and recovery can begin.
“This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon” As soon as the storm hit, the people of Tuscaloosa began mobilizing to help those in need. Th e Un ive r s i ty of Alabama opened the Student Recreation Center to refugees, the city turned the Belk Activity Center into a shelter and many local churches and organizations mobilized to provide food and safety for those who were displaced by the storm. DCH Regional Medical Center treated more than 800 victims Wednesday night. After the storm, volunteers began to line the streets of the affected areas, providing victims with food and water as they searched the debris of their homes. In Alberta, the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up a command center at Leland Shopping Center
on University Boulevard, where volunteers also coordinated their efforts to help residents. In Holt, FEMA set up at Holt Elementary School. The Mid-Alabama region of the American Red Cross used its resources to coordinate more than 1,000 volunteers across the state, serving more than 49,000 meals on Tuesday alone. “This is not a sprint,” said Chris Osborne, director of marketing and public relations for the Mid-Alabama region. “It’s a marathon.” Osborne said the Red Cross is currently working to identify the needs of individual families. Although right now the primary concern of most victims is food and water, different needs will arise in the future, and the Red Cross is working to coordinate those for the families that need them. “We work with all of our partners, like FEMA, to make sure we’re helping get people on the road to recovery,” Osborne said. UA students have played a major role in providing aid to victims. Monday, the UA greek system provided more than
EDITORIAL STAFF • Victor Luckerson, editor-inchief, editor@cw.ua.edu • Jonathan Reed, managing editor, jonathanreedcw@gmail.com • Brandee Easter, print production editor • Will Tucker, news editor, wjtucker1@gmail.com • Hannah Mask, assistant news editor • Kelsey Stein, lifestyles editor
• Jason Galloway, sports editor • Tony Tsoukalas, assistant sports editor • Tray Smith, opinions editor • Jasmine Cannon, reporter • John Davis, reporter • Stephen Dethrage, reporter • William Evans, reporter • Taylor Holland, reporter • Katherine Martin, reporter • Amanda Sams, reporter
• Patty Vaughan, reporter • Stephen Walker, reporter • Adam Greene, chief copy editor • Parker White, copy editor • Emily Johnson, design editor • Drew Hoover, photo editor • Megan Smith, assistant photo editor • Katie Bennett, photographer • Mitchell Hughes, photographer
• John Michael Simpson, photographer • Caitlin Trotter, photographer • Brian Connell, web editor • Daniel Roth, multimedia editor • Marion Steinberg, community manager, outreach@cw.ua.edu • Wesley Vaughn, assistant community manager • Malcolm Cammeron, community engagement team staff
The Crimson White would like to thank the following for providing shelter, electricity and food to the editorial staff during the past week: Brandee Easter, the Hawkins family, the Mayfield family and the Office of Student Media professional staff
urge students to talk about storm By Jason Galloway Sports Editor crimsonwhitesports@gmail.com Traumatic events can have lasting effects, which is why the UA Counseling Center and other psychiatrists have stressed the importance of seeking help for tornado victims. “It’s extremely important,” said Lee Keyes, executive director of the UA Counseling Center. “The thing about [post-traumatic stress disorder] is that it can be mitigated. Severe forms can be prevented altogether if people get help quickly.” The UA Counseling Center is located across the street from the law school on Jackson Avenue and is now back to its regular business hours. Keyes said appointments could be scheduled over the phone or, in more urgent cases, by walk-ins. The Counseling Center is offering a tornado support group for students every Wednesday at 7 p.m., starting tonight. He also said for urgent cases after business hours, patients can get connected through the University of Alabama Police Department, and the center is willing to meet patients at their current location. According to Keyes, the UA Counseling Center was set up at four different locations after the storm hit, including the Student Recreation Center and their center on Jackson Avenue. He estimates that the counseling center alone has talked to about 250-300 students since the tornado hit.
“We deal with people who have experienced trauma all the time, but not on this scale,” Keyes said. “[This] involves hundreds, if not thousands, of people.” Other counselors and psychiatrists around Tuscaloosa and Northport opened their doors Monday for the first time since the tornado. Takesha Shannon from TMS Counseling LLC in Northport is one of those and said tornado victims should not delay getting the psychological treatment they need. “Right now, people are more concerned with feeding themselves, getting their necessities met,” she said. “It’s difficult for them to realize that their emotional needs also have to be a priority. These experiences can have lasting effects that can impact our ability to function.” Shannon said 40 percent of her practice is college students and that UA and Stillman College have referred students to her in the past. Keyes said the UA Counseling Center is likely the best source for students with psychological needs because of their experience with college-aged patients. “We only work with students, so we feel like we know students better than any other mental health providers,” Keyes said. “We understand more about their lives and the resources that are here for them on campus. You can think of us specializing in the age group that is usually here enrolled in school.” The UA Counseling Center can be reached by calling 205348-3863.
FAST FACTS • The UA Counseling Center is located on Jackson Avenue across from the Law School. • The Counseling Center is hosting a tornado support group Wednesdays at 7 p.m. 11,000 meals to victims and volunteers. The DKE house served as a major launching point for sending aid throughout the city. Students have provided aid in any way possible, some even going to their homes throughout the country and returning with food and supplies. “One of the remarkable stories that has come out of this event has been the generosity of our students,” Maddox said. “We see hundreds, if not thousands, of students out volunteering on a daily basis. Students are giving back to Tuscaloosa in an unprecedented way, and I guess it’s easy to understand why. This is your city and you become attached to it.”
“We refuse to quit” Maddox and other local officials know the city is hurting, but they also believe it can rise up from the destruction and be rebuilt. “Recovery is going in to places that have already been removed from the map and beginning a new day,”
The Crimson White is the community newspaper of The University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced by students. The University of Alabama cannot influence editorial decisions and editorial opinions are those of the editorial board and do not represent the official opinions of the University. Advertising offices of The Crimson White are on the first floor, Student Publications Building, 923 University Blvd. The advertising mailing address is P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White (USPS 138020) is published four times weekly when classes are in session during Fall and Spring Semester except for the Monday after Spring Break and the Monday after Thanksgiving, and once a week when school is in session for the summer. Marked calendar provided. The Crimson White is provided for free up
Maddox said. In Holt, the destruction of Brown Greenhouses did not mean the end of the business. “Our customers told us not to quit,” said Margaret Brown, the owner of Brown Greenhouses. Judge McCollum is optimistic about the area’s recovery. “We will come back from this,” he said Thursday, “and we will come back even stronger.” A year from now, Maddox said he believes Tuscaloosa will still be reeling from the desolation, but the storm will not break the spirit of the city. “A year from now, we will begin to see neighborhoods come to life,” he said. “What I hope to see is that this spirit of unity, this spirit of compassion and resiliency, will carry us through and make a new life here in Tuscaloosa. “We’re still here, we’re still fighting and we refuse to be defined by what happened on that terrible night. We decide for ourselves that what people will really remember us by is the fact that we got back on our feet. We refuse to quit, and we’re going to make this city a shining city on a hill.”
to three issues. Any other papers are $1.00. The subscription rate for The Crimson White is $125 per year. Checks should be made payable to The University of Alabama and sent to: The Crimson White Subscription Department, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White is entered as periodical postage at Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Crimson White, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2010 by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of The Crimson White.
The Crimson White
SPECIAL EDITION
Facebook group helps students find housing By Jonathan Reed Managing Editor jonathanreedcw@gmail.com Jimmie Greenwell’s apartment in Northport is miles away from the tornado’s path. On Thursday and Friday, he took in friends whose homes were destroyed or without power. The house where Greenwell planned to live in the fall, however, is little more than a downed tree and a pile of rubble. Like many students – both those whose current homes were destroyed or those who planned to move into housing that was destroyed – Greenwell, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering, is now beginning the frantic search for housing for next year. Jim Andrews, the publisher of the Tuscaloosa Apartment Guide, created a Facebook page Monday to help displaced students and residents find housing properties with openings. The page, called Housing for Tornado Victims, allows owners of rental property to post what openings they have, and also encourages those searching for housing to post what they’re looking for. “Instead of having to hit every single property, they can just go and check the postings to see if there’s an availability,” Andrews said. “You don’t have to drive, say, to University Village to see. You can just check the Facebook
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
3
Obama surveys Tuscaloosa damage
FAST FACTS • To move into Rose Towers temporarily, call 205-348-7559. • For help finding an available apartment visit the Housing for Tornado Victims Facebook page. page and see what’s open.” Andrews launched the page around 9 a.m. Monday. He said there needed to be a more centralized location for people to find housing. “Yesterday, I was talking to Warner Johnson at Duckworth Morris, and he said their phones were melting down from all the calls,” he said. “First, I thought about creating a blog, and then we ended up creating a Facebook page.” The page lists apartments available for rent immediately and those that will become available for students in August. The page is also linked on the main page at housing.ua.edu. The University has already opened up the Rose Towers residence hall for displaced students, faculty and staff, said Alicia Browne, associate director for information and communication for Housing and Residential Communities. “We have housing available in Rose Towers,” she said. “Those who are moving in now are students who lived off campus.”
Browne said Housing and Residential Communities is working with each displaced person individually to find the most appropriate housing arrangement for them. Students who need housing for the summer can apply to live in Rose Towers through the normal process on myBama, but will be charged the normal fee for summer housing, she said. Those who need housing can call the Rose Towers desk at 205-348-7559, she said. Greenwell said his housing situation is still uncertain, but he is trying to find a familiar place to stay first. The company he planned to rent from will have insurance adjustors assess the damage Tuesday, and then he will worry about housing for the fall. “I’m waiting to hear back from the place I was supposed to stay at,” he said, “and I’m trying to see if the place I’m staying at now has any openings. If they do, then I’ll try to stay here.”
Above: President Barack Obama visits tornado damage in the Alberta neighborhood in Tuscaloosa, Friday, April 29. Left: President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, greet residents in the Alberta neighborhood in Tuscaloosa, Friday, April 29, as they toured tornado damage. AP
Department chairs check in with students By Will Tucker News Editor wjtucker1@gmail.com On Monday, the City of Tuscaloosa provided a missing persons list—the first of its kind from the city since the storm on April 27 tore through the area. “I don’t think we can get this list all the way down to zero,” Mayor Walt Maddox said in a Monday press conference. “I’m surprised anyone can survive the wrath of a tornado.” According to UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen, the University of Alabama will continue to let the police and emergency responders handle the business of finding and accounting for missing persons, including possibly missing students. “UAPD is communicating with the Emergency Preparedness Group at the University,” Andreen said. Andreen explained that due to the mutual aid agreement between the Tuscaloosa Police Department and UAPD, the two departments are working together in conducting missing persons operations. For example, seekandfind.ua.edu – a city-run website designed to gather information about missing people – is hosted on a University
DONATIONS Continued from page 1
Horsley said the tornado victims shouldn’t have to worry about having their basic needs met. “These people need to be able to get a hot meal, a cot and a blanket at the end of every day,” she said. “We provide that for them.” Although the Red Cross doesn’t actually cook the meals, it is instrumental in getting them to the affected areas. “Many churches and restaurants have been cooking meals that we deliver to the hardest hit areas,” she said. Thousands of people have been fed two hot meals a day by the Red Cross since the disaster. “Yesterday, we fed 600 people for lunch and dinner in the
of Alabama URL but operated by the Tuscaloosa Police Department. “Efforts to find missing individuals are being handled by people who are experts in that field,” Andreen said. She also explained that the University is not planning on accounting for all students by means of an email check-in system. The city, though, isn’t the only organization trying to account for missing persons. Andreen said the University has “encouraged [faculty] to work with their students regarding finalizing grades for the semester,” but some professors and department heads have gone beyond that duty and worked to account for students themselves. Jim Hall, director of New College, said the University did not provide specific guidelines on how to track down students, but he thought most departments would try. “We tracked down all 200 [New College students] by Friday evening,” Hall said. “I was able to generate a list of all our majors, compile a list of people we haven’t heard from ... People texted me names of people they hadn’t seen or talked to, and we used every bit of social media we could.” Hall said he thought the
University and the city of Tuscaloosa have done a good job handling the tornado aftermath, given the scope of the crisis. He said he realized it would be harder for a group like the biology department to track down 700 students. Becky Florence, director of college relations and associate director of development, explained that the College of Arts and Sciences—composed of roughly 9,000 students—has launched a new email account, named inquiry. relief@as.ua.edu, to check in with Arts and Sciences students and gauge their needs in the aftermath of the storm. “[The email system] was set up to give faculty, department chairs and students a central location to get information about resources available oncampus and off-campus,” she said. Florence explained that Arts and Sciences students can ask everything from how to fill out a Federal Emergency Management Agency form to how to find housing. “We requested the email on Friday, and we had the email set up over the weekend … and it is online now,” Florence said. “We told the [department] chairs on Monday morning, and we’re very soon going to send an email out.” In 2005, Tulane University checked in via email with all
of their students following Hurricane Katrina, according to Mike Strecker, director of public relations at Tulane. According to a report from 2004, Tulane’s enrollment at that time was just over 13,000 students. “We did have our students check in by email after the storm,” Strecker said. “Going into it, we were pretty confident everyone had gone into it safely – there was an evacuation from the city and the University.” Strecker said this evacuation is a key difference between a hurricane and tornado – with a tornado, he said, “you don’t have a warning. You just have to get out of its way.” Strecker said after the University accounted for its students, Tulane set up other communication tools to keep students in direct contact with the administration. “We have an emergency website that we activated … that was a permanent thing,” Strecker said. “If we had been on campus, the president would have been meeting with the students ... In the immediate aftermath, we did it via live chats where they would ask questions virtually.” Six years later, technology remains a useful tool for some UA professors and students hoping to account for
their fellow students. In the College of Arts and Sciences, for instance, Dean Robert Olin encouraged department heads to check in with students and gauge their needs, but left the decision of how to do so up to the individual department leaders, Florence said. “The University has a redundant communication mechanism with students,” Florence said, explaining that administrators rely on a variety of methods to contact students, like texts, emails and social media. Shane Givens, an instructor within the Management Information Systems department, explained that his students used a Facebook group
called MIS Post Tornado to find and account for each other after Wednesday’s tornado. “That’s when [our efforts] really got organized, with the Facebook group,” Givens said. “We knew where half of everybody was by Friday and on Sunday we were able to confirm everybody. “We did lose one student, Marcus Smith, a sophomore— they found him Sunday. Otherwise, we were able to confirm that everybody else was alive,” he said. Givens said that other than emails from the business school to its students, he was unaware of other concerted efforts to account for students by the University.
shelter,” she said. “We also delivered 1,400 meals for lunch and dinner to affected areas. That’s 2,800 meals that we delivered into the community and 1,200 that we served in the shelter. And that’s just yesterday.” In addition to providing short-term needs, the Red Cross also provides medical attention and supplies for storm victims. “The shelter is staffed with nurses and doctors that can provide immediate attention to storm victims,” Horsley said. “Some people come in with needs such as oxygen, insulin, and medication. We provide that for them.” Horsley said the Red Cross will not be leaving any time soon. “We are here for the duration,” she said. “As long as people need shelter, we will
be here.” The United Way has also seen an influx of funds and supplies for storm victims. “We have estimated that, on the website alone, over $10,000 in donations have come in so far,” said Homer Butler, president of West Alabama United Way. Butler said he has received a large number of phone calls from people who want to know how they can help. “We are asking people to donate to the United Way of West Alabama Tornado Relief Fund,” he said. Donations to help the Tuscaloosa tornado victims can be sent to the United Way or can be made online at uwwa.org. All monetary donations will go directly to helping those who lost everything in the storm. “None of the money that is donated will go to support
the daily operations of United Way,” Butler said. “All of the money that comes in will be used for long-term recovery.” Most of the money that is received by the United Way will be spent to help storm victims get back on their feet. “Once search-and-rescue operations are over, the funds will be used to repair and rebuild homes, remove trees from yards, whatever is needed,” Butler said. The United Way is currently in need of many items for storm victims. Items can be dropped off at 2720 6th Street in Tuscaloosa. Right now, the most needed items are nonperishable food, baby food, baby wipes and men’s deodorant. On a smaller scale, many students from the University have decided to use their time,
money and even their homes to help with the relief efforts. Amanda Phillips, a freshman majoring in general health studies, said that seeing the aftermath of the tornado motivated her to do something. “I went out on Thursday to help with the cleanup and I saw such a need,” Phillips said. “There wasn’t a lot that I could do because I don’t have any training, and the searchand-rescue teams were still out there.” It was on the trip home that she realized she had to do something to help with the recovery. “When I finally got home I was talking to my parents about how hard it was to leave…” she said. “That’s when we came up with the idea of doing a donation drive here in Texas.” Phillips decided to turn her
family’s garage in her hometown of McKinney, Texas, into a drop-off location for supplies. “A donation drive is something I can do from home,” she said. “Once we have collected the supplies, our plan is to head to Tuscaloosa and distribute the items we have gotten to those in need.” Phillips said she hopes her actions will inspire others to do the same. “I am hoping that by ‘paying it forward,’ meaning that one family takes care of another, others will be inspired to do the same and we can rebuild Tuscaloosa in no time,” she said. The University has created the UA Acts of Kindness Fund to assist employees and students affected by the tornado. More information can be found at ua.edu/tornadorelief.
WAYS TO FIND PEOPLE & REGISTER YOURSELF AS SAFE • seekandfind.ua.edu • TuscaloosaNews.com – Help us Find Loved Ones • Red Cross: safeandwell.communities.org
4
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
SPECIAL EDTION
The Crimson White
Storm claims lives of nine college students BRANDON SCOTT ATTERTON
DANIELLE MARIE DOWNS
University of Alabama
University of Alabama
ASHLEY THERESE PERRET HARRISON University of Alabama
By Kelsey Stein Lifestyles Editor
By Hannah Mask Assistant News Editor
By Stephen Charles Walker Staff Reporter
Brandon Scott Atterton, 23, died April 27 when a tornado hit his home in the Cedar Crest neighborhood off 15th Street. Atterton, of Bryant, Ala., was a UA student majoring in history and was employed by DCH Regional Medical Center. Perry Blake Peek of Pisgah, Ala., and Morgan Marlene Sigler, of Bryant, Ala., were also in the Cedar Crest home during the storm. They both died at DCH Regional Medical Center. Sigler and Atterton, who grew up together in Bryant, had been friends since elementary school, said Cody Kirk, a childhood friend also from Bryant. Jessie Strickland, a friend of Atterton’s, described him as “an all-around nice guy” who loved his family. After college, he planned to become a history teacher and high school basketball coach. “He had a niece that he adored, and every chance he had to go see her, he did,” she said. “Family was really big to him.” A funeral service was held
University of Alabama student Danielle Downs, 24, died April 27 when a tornado hit her house on Beverly Heights. Stillman College student Will Stevens and Shelton State Community College student Loryn Brown died at the same address. “All three of the students were good friends,” Downs’ mother Terri said. “Both Danielle and Will Stevens graduated from Priceville High School. Will had left his apartment to protect the girls. He was an honorable young man.” “Danielle Downs was my best friend, and closer to me than my own sister,” Debbie Graff, Downs’ friend of six years, said. “Danielle was an advocate for the underdog,” Graff said. “During our time together, I witnessed Danielle stand up to men twice her size for the sake of justice.” Downs was majoring in social work and was set to graduate May 7. “She would have been an amazing social worker,” Graff said “Her heart extended to everyone, even her enemies.
Friends and acquaintances mourn the death of Ashley Harrison, a senior who was just a week away from receiving her degree in economics from the University. Fox 4 reported that Harrison was found 100 yards from the house she and boyfriend Carson Tinker were in when the EF-4 tornado hit Wednesday night. Harrison’s friends remember her as someone with a great personality and an exceptionally bright future. “Beyond her high intellect and her ability to excel in whatever she chose to pursue, she had the most amazing personality,” Colin Peek, a close friend of Harrison’s, told the Dallas Morning News. “She just had an elegance about her.” Among Harrison’s greatest attributes was her ability to remain the same, no matter who she was around. “You felt at ease being yourself around her because you knew she was being herself a hundred percent,” Peek, a former Alabama football player,
Monday, May 2, at the Moore Funeral Home Chapel. Atterton is survived by his father, Charles Atterton; mother, Nancy Atterton; brothers Brian Atterton and Chance Atterton; grandparents Paul and Gladys Atterton and Bud Hicks; cousins Amanda Hogan, Jessica Holloway, Dilyn Atterton, Lindsey Nipper; uncle Kenneth Atterton; aunts Robin Nipper and Donna Hogan and niece Alexus Atterton.
She could forgive you before you could apologize. Danielle loved with gusto, and never left a part of herself out of anything she was involved in.” A funeral service was held Monday, May 2, at Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church in Decatur, Ala. “She was my best friend and still is,” Downs’ sister, Michelle, said. “I love her so much.” Downs is survived by her parents, Ed and Terri Downs; sister, Michelle Downs; and grandmother, Inez Bordelon.
told the Dallas Morning News. As the storm approached Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, Harrison was at home with her boyfriend and two other friends. Harrison’s uncle, Marion Perret, told WFAA TV that those inside the house took shelter in a closet as the tornado neared, but the tornado hit the house directly. Tinker and Harrison’s two friends survived the storm.
MELANIE NICOLE MIXON
MORGAN MARLENE SIGLER
MARCUS JEREMY SMITH
University of Alabama
University of Alabama
University of Alabama
By Stephen Charles Walker Staff Reporter
By Kelsey Stein Lifestyles Editor
By Hannah Mask Assistant News Editor
Friends, family and the Gamma Phi Beta sorority mourn the loss of Melanie Nicole Mixon, 21, a 2010 initiate of the Epsilon Lambda Chapter and a junior at the University of Alabama. Mixon was a victim of the deadly storms that swept across Alabama on Wednesday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Nicole’s family and chapter sisters during this most difficult time,” said Gamma Phi Beta International President Linda Malony. “May all those who were touched by Nicole’s love and friendship remember her fondly.” Mixon, a graduate of Minor High School and Jefferson State Community College, was an honor student majoring in accounting. She is survived by her mother, Bonnie Maharrey; father, William Mixon; sisters, Brittney Maharrey, Courtney Maharrey and Leah Varner; maternal grandparents: Cotton and Melanie Varner paternal grandmother,
Friends and family mourn the loss of Morgan Marlene Sigler, who died at DCH Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained during Wednesday afternoon’s tornado. Sigler, of Bryant, Ala., was a UA student majoring in graphic design. Sigler, Perry Blake Peek of Pisgah, Ala., and Brandon Scott Atterton, also a UA student, were killed when the storm destroyed a home in the Cedar Crest neighborhood off 15th Street. “After the tornado went by, I tried calling Morgan like ten times and Scott four or five times and couldn’t get a hold of them,” said Cody Kirk, a childhood friend and fellow UA student. Kirk, Sigler and Atterton had known each other since elementary school, according to Kirk. They all lived within two miles of each other in Bryant. “Me and Morgan were inseparable,” Kirk said. “If you saw her, you saw me.” Sigler’s uncle, Chuck Sigler, described her as a wonderful niece.
After days of searching, Marcus Jeremy Smith, 21, was discovered dead near his apartment in the Charleston Square complex late Sunday afternoon. Smith, of Richmond, Va., was a UA junior majoring in management information systems. “Marcus was a child of God, in how he lived and who he was,” his uncle, Derrick Pearson, said. “As family, you have hopes and dreams of who your young men grow up to be. By the outpouring of love and support, I would say that we can be proud in that Marcus exceeded our wishes.” Smith was an active member of the Northwood Church of Christ, and the people he knew there remember him fondly. “My life has been touched just in the short months of my knowing him,” fellow church member Amanda Wildman said. “He will always be in my heart and I will never forget him. I have comfort in knowing that he is in heaven and I look forward to seeing him again someday.” Pearson said Smith had turned out exactly how he’d
Matilda Snow and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Her visitation was held Sunday. May 1, and her funeral service was held Monday, May 2, at Crestview Memorial Funeral Home in Adamsville, Ala. She was buried in Mulga, Ala.
“She would brighten the world around her and was kind, caring and loving,” he said. “She was also very artistic and loved art. She was the best of us and will be greatly missed.” A funeral service was held Sunday, May 1, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bryant. Sigler is survived by her parents, Allan and Vega Sigler; brothers Eric Smith and Justin Sigler; grandparents Howard and Jean Sigler; niece and nephew, Blake and Sadie Smith and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
hoped. “His parents, his family, his friends and his community loved him,” Pearson said. “I haven’t heard anyone say that they wouldn’t be proud of Marcus as their own. That’s impressive.” A memorial service was held Tuesday at Northwood Church of Christ. A funeral service and burial will take place May 7 in Richmond, Va. Smith is survived by his parents, Robert and Jackie Smith, as well as an older brother.
LORYN ALEXANDRIA BROWN
WILLIAM CHANCE STEVENS
WILLIE LEE TURNER
Shelton State Community College
Stillman College
Shelton State Community College
By Hannah Mask Assistant News Editor
By Kelsey Stein Lifestyles Editor
By Hannah Mask Assistant News Editor
Loryn Alexandria Brown, 21, was killed April 27 when her apartment was leveled by the powerful tornado that devastated much of Tuscaloosa. Madeline Faulk, a close friend who grew up with Brown, said she and Brown’s families are very close. “My mom is friends with Loryn’s mom,” Faulk said. “Loryn’s mom was on the phone with her [daughter] and the tornado hadn’t hit her neighborhood yet. She lost her [cell phone] signal and then her mom couldn’t get a hold of her again.” Brown was discovered dead the following morning. “We found out [Thursday] at 1 a.m. that they had found her body,” Faulk said. “Her dad had to identify the body.” Brown attended Shelton State Community College and was planning to enroll at The University of Alabama in the fall. One of the main things friends and family, and even those who never met Brown, tried to
William Chance Stevens, a Stillman College student, was killed by the deadly tornado that came through Tuscaloosa the afternoon of Wednesday, April 27. Stevens, of Somerville, Ala., was a 2007 graduate of Priceville High School and former baseball player at Stillman. He was scheduled to graduate at the commencement ceremony May 7. “He was a great young man,” said Donny Crawford, Stevens’ baseball coach. “A very quiet kid that would do anything for you at any time, worked his butt off trying to get better every day, just that kind of person that all the players liked.” “We’ve got some things planned to remember Will as being part of our program,” Crawford said. “He won’t be forgotten. That’s for sure. “It’s just hard to believe,” he said. “It’s just you get close to these guys and they’re like your own because you watch
Shelton State Community College student Willie Lee “Trey” Turner, III, 21, died in the April 27 tornado. After graduating from Holt High School, Turner decided to pursue a career in welding, The Tuscaloosa News reported. Some of his favorite pastimes were outdoor activities like hunting and fishing. His family and friends said he was always smiling and kindhearted. “Trey was a really great guy,” his cousin Ashley Turner said. “He always was outgoing and goofy. Every time you saw him anywhere, he would have a cheesy smile on his face.” Services were held Monday at 2 p.m. at Sunset Funeral Home Chapel, and he was buried in Pate Cemetery. He was preceded in death by his mother, Patricia M. Turner, his paternal grandparents, Willie and Mable Turner and his maternal
remember is that everything happens for a reason. “God allows things like this to happen for reasons we may never know,” Kim Evans of Prattville, Ala., wrote on an online guest book dedicated to Brown. “Grow in faith through this tragedy, and in time you will find peace,” she wrote to Brown’s mother. A funeral service was held Monday, May 2, at New Home Baptist Church in Elmore. Brown is survived by her mother, Ashley Mims of Wetumpka, Ala., and her father, Shannon Brown of Madison, Ala.
them grow up and you know they’re close to getting their degree and going on with their lives. Then suddenly they don’t have one.” Stevens’ visitation was held Tuesday, May 3, at Somerville Church of God in Somerville, Ala. His funeral service will be held today at 11 a.m. at the same location. He was survived by his parents, Darrell and Carolyn Stevens; sister, Taylor Stevens; grandfather, Wayne Stevens; and grandparents, Bill and Ann Faulkner.
grandparents, Buddy and Myrtle Hodo. He is survived by his father, Willie Lee Turner, Jr., and his sister, Erika Wilson.
The Crimson White
SPECIAL EDITION
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
5
Community spotlight // Holt Devastated area ‘a little bit forgotten’ By Kelsey Stein and Jonathan Reed The Crimson White Wednesday night, Margaret Brown saw her house fall around her and her business destroyed. Sunday, she vowed to pick up the pieces. Brown, who owns Brown Greenhouses on Crescent Ridge Road in Holt, was at her home on Cherrywood Circle when the tornado hit. She and her daughter, Ann Marie, sought shelter in the bathroom, but it was a friend of her daughter who ultimately saved their lives, she said. Michael Bujalski went to work at Kozy’s restaurant at 3 p.m. Wednesday, but Kozy’s sent him home when they had no power. Instead of going to his home, which was not in the tornado’s path, Bujalski went to check on the Browns. “I don’t think I would be here without Michael,” Margaret Brown said. “I think God put Michael there.” Bujalski held Margaret and Ann Marie Brown to the floor of the bathroom as the tornado picked up the house three times and stripped away the walls. “If he hadn’t been there,” Ann Marie Brown said, “we would’ve gone up in the air.” When it was over, all three escaped uninjured. “God and Michael were with us,” Margaret Brown said. “God held us all together.” Sunday afternoon, volunteers swarmed Brown Greenhouses to help the family think about starting over. People from as far away as Florida helped salvage what plants remained in the Browns’ 16 greenhouses, while others used the parking lot of the business to prepare food for residents and volunteers. The family’s business has served Holt for about 24 years. “Our customers don’t want us to quit, so I guess we’re not quitting,” Margaret Brown said. While the Browns are thinking of rebuilding, others in Holt are still surveying the damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency set up a command center at Holt Elementary School, and police with cadaver dogs began scouring what remains of neighborhoods. People lined Crescent Ridge Road handing out food and water to volunteers, residents and anyone who passed by. But all of the food and water coming into the area does not meet the needs of all residents, one volunteer said. “Yesterday, when we were in Alberta, it was mostly workers needing food,” said Kelly Greene, a volunteer from Tuscaloosa. “Here, it’s families needing everything.” Greene said residents often need small items most volunteers don’t bring. One resident needed diapers and formula for a newborn. Another, a diabetic, needed something sweet, and a volunteer supplied lollipops. The Holt area is still in need of everything, Greene said. “It’s completely different here than what we found yesterday in Alberta,” she said. “This place seems to be a little bit forgotten.” Power companies from Georgia and South Carolina put new electrical poles up along Crescent Ridge Road, but rebuilding Holt will take far more than that, Greene said. “They’ve got the poles up, but there’s nothing to hook [them] to,” she said. “Holt Elementary and the water tower are still standing, but there’s nothing else.” Rafeal Nevels returned to his home Sunday to salvage his car. The wall around the back of his house was missing, but a bookshelf and other pieces of furniture still stood in the house, fully visible from the road. Nevels said he had spent much of his time out helping others, and that his own possessions had fallen victim because of it. Looters had taken his flat screen television and his computer monitor. “I know it’s gone, but it’ll get replaced,” he said. “I’m not pitching a fit about it; I just thank God my life is here.” Residents said looters were using back roads to get around police after curfew, since even residents were not allowed in the area after 8 p.m. Nevels’ mother-in-law, Shirley Billingsley, said despite all of the problems and the looting, she has seen the best of the city rise up in wake of the crisis. “It’s rough out here,” she said, “but you know what? First time in my life I ever saw Tuscaloosa – black, white, Puerto Rican, Mexican – working together. Hallelujah, God is good.”
HOW TO HELP // HOLT • Donate or sign up to volunteer: Holt High School, 3801 Alabama Ave. NE, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404, 205-348-2768 • Donate: Boy Scouts of America, 2700 River Road NE, Tuscaloosa, AL, 205-554-1680
Top: Residents clear debris in front of their home on Crescent Ridge Road. Left: Entire neighborhoods in Holt, including homes on Keene Drive, have been reduced to rubble. Top right: One Holt resident expresses frustration with the tornadoʼs destruction. Above right: Volunteers work to clear debris and begin rebuilding at Brown Greenhouses. Below: The storm intensified as it moved across Tuscaloosa, destroying much of the Holt community. CW | Kelsey Stein
6
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
SPECIAL EDITION
The Crimson White
Community spotlight // Rosedale Pieces of Rosedale scattered across Alabama By Hannah Mask Assistant News Editor hannah.r.mask@gmail.com Losing a little may not seem that bad. Unless that’s all you had to start with. As Wednesday’s tornado neared Rosedale Court, a poverty-stricken Tuscaloosa Housing Authority community located on 10th Avenue, Rose Roberts, 53, prayed to God to keep her family safe. “God told me to get out of the bed and go look out of the door,” she said. “I saw it, and I said, ‘Lord, it’s coming, Lord, it’s coming.’” Keith Roberts, Rose’s 29-year-old son, got his mother and 26-year-old sister on the floor as the tornado came closer. “He got our heads covered,” Rose Roberts said. “We laid there praying. If God tells you to do something, you better listen.” On day four after the tornado, Keith Roberts still bears an open wound on his right wrist, but he doesn’t know how he got it. He just knows his legs were trapped under the hallway wall after it collapsed. The family was buried in the rubble for about 20 minutes until one of their neighbors dug them out. “Seeing his face was just a great relief,” Rose Roberts said. But outside of the rubble, there were screams for help, and Rose Roberts said her mind went blank. “It was so sad to see those babies,” she said of people who lost their lives on her street. “I saw an arm sticking out, but there was no body attached to it.” Leaving the ruins, they headed toward the plasma center on 10th Avenue. A van picked them up and transported them to Belk Activity Center, where they were temporarily housed along with many others from their community. There were so many people seeking shelter, Keith Roberts said, Belk ran out of beds. Twice. They returned the next day to try to salvage some of their clothing and other possessions, but looters had already all but cleared the area of anything they might have saved. “What little we did have left, they took,” Keith Roberts said. Though Rose Roberts retains her positive attitude, she can’t help but question what would make someone steal from those who have so little to begin with. “I can’t understand, in the name of God, why people would steal like that,” she said. “They’ll get theirs, that’s for sure. You just don’t steal from
people like that.” But her optimistic outlook is still sometimes compromised by what she experienced during and after the storm. “Sometimes I cry,” she said. “But I cry in the bathroom or somewhere away from my children. I can’t let my children see me crying.” As the Robertses settled into their temporary shelter in Belk, 54-year-old Marion Conner slept in her house — one of the few left standing — in hopes of preventing looters from stealing more of her possessions just hours after the tornado. “Our property was outside, and people were already taking it,” she said. “The fire department said it would be safe for us to stay there, so we did.” However, other families in the community have lost much more. “People were yelling for a boy named Justin,” Conner said. “We found him a day or so after in the morgue. He was blown out of his house. He was 14.” Justin Leeric Thomas of the 2900 block of 10th Avenue East was found dead at 440 30th Place, almost four miles away. Conner said her son was
home when the tornado hit. She was working her job at Penny Profit Cleaners on 15th Street. “He heard the tornado siren and told the other people at the house to take cover,” she said. “The dog and the back of the house blew away, so he ran back in and flipped the couch over and hid behind it, and the windows started busting.” When the tornado passed, there were people screaming all over, Conner’s son said. “He started pulling women and children out of the rubble,” Conner said. Now, they’re working to put their life back together. “We’re working until we’re exhausted everyday,” she said. “Then we find somewhere to get a hot shower and lay our heads down, and then we start it all over again.” A couple of days after the tornado, Conner’s 28-yearold daughter — who lives in California—found a Facebook group dedicated to returning photos and documents discovered after the tornado to their original owners. “She called and said, ‘I was just online and I found this website, and the third photo they have is of you,” Conner said.
HOW TO HELP // ROSEDALE • Donate: Bring ready to eat and nonperishable food items, toiletries, clothing, tarps for covering roofs, coolers, ice, flash lights, batteries and blankets to community members. “The photo she saw was found about 80 miles away. “They’ve found three more photos since then, and they were up to 100 miles away. They were all over the state. My daughter is getting them mailed back to me.” For now, Conner’s family is displaced and living in separate locations, but like Rose, she appreciates what she has left. “We’ve got life, we’re OK,” she said. “We’re blessed to be alive. The rest doesn’t matter.” Waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Rose sat with her son in salvaged chairs near the road on Sunday; they said they were nothing but happy to be alive. “We’ll be all right,” Rose said, smiling. “Many people can’t see that.”
Top: The police cordoned off the areas hit the hardest by the tornado. The public housing projects in Rosedale were only accessible to residents after many of the buildings were completely torn from their foundations. Center: Few walls were left standing in the Rosedale community, and winds were violent enough to move all of the cars on the street behind where this photo was taken. Violent winds flipped the car seen in the picture and dropped it onto the remains of a house. Above: Many houses in the Rosedale Community were completely destroyed by the tornado. Left: Residents of Rosedale Community gather to distribute food and water near the Tuscaloosa Public Housing Authority building on April 29. CW | Drew Hoover
The Crimson White
SPECIAL EDITION
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
7
Community spotlight // Alberta Alberta residents ‘pick up and move on’ By Kelsey Stein and Jonathan Reed The Crimson White Kirkland Enterprises on University Boulevard in Alberta opened in 1935 as a filling station and a garage. Eventually, it grew to include several auto repair businesses run by different family members. Wednesday night, it was reduced to rubble. “It’s all in the Lord’s hands now,” said Faye Kirkland Grow, whose family still owns the business. “You just have to pick up and move on.” Alberta, a Tuscaloosa neighborhood a few miles east of the UA campus, was one of Tuscaloosa’s areas most devastated by Wednesday night’s deadly tornado, with block after block of homes and
businesses in the tornado’s path now unrecognizable. Tuscaloosa City Councilman Kip Tyner took his mother to her house only five minutes before the tornado hit their neighborhood. “I’ve been through tornadoes before, but never in my life have I experienced the noise of this one,” he said. “It sounded like 25 trains.” When he emerged from the house, he saw a scene of pandemonium and ruin he’d never expected to see in his life. Some people were running panicked through the streets, crying and screaming. Others were pulling the dead from the debris that was once their homes. “They were using the old Texaco station as a morgue,” Tyner said. “There were bodies all over the parking lot
covered in sheets. The youngest I saw was 3 years old and the oldest were about 80.” Tyner, who grew up in Alberta, knows of nine friends who were killed in the storm. He described the aftermath of the tornado as “the worst horror movie [he] could imagine.” On Saturday afternoon, Kim Sanders, owner of Tuscaloosa Physical Therapy on University Boulevard, continued sifting through the remains of her business with the help of her family, including her daughters Kaitlin and Rachel. “The storm lifted the whole building, picked it up and crashed it back down,” Kim Sanders said. They have managed to salvage many of the possessions inside, besides some of their therapy equipment.
“We found a framed license and books underneath the walls,” Kaitlin Sanders said. “It looked like the building was eating them.” Kim Sanders is primarily concerned with finding a way to get her business up and running as soon as possible for the sake of her patients. “We’ve still been doing therapy even though the place is gone,” Kaitlin Sanders said. “We did it right here on the sidewalk.” Volunteers have flocked to the community in response, setting up their base of operations in the Leland Shopping Center parking lot. A group called Samaritan’s Purse, various church groups and college students, are distributing food, water, clothing and other necessities to members of the Alberta community.
Volunteers from as far away as Indiana are flocking to the disaster zone. Truckloads of nonperishable items have arrived from across the country, and cases of water are stacked taller than the people dispensing them. “We’ve got enough water for America here,” Tyner said. Christin Byars, a UA graduate student, arrived in Alberta around 10 a.m. Saturday to volunteer. “We’ve gotten clothes donations because other places can’t take them anymore,” she said. “I’ve been thankful that everyone has stepped in, but there’s so much to be done.” Hayley Sansing, a High Forest resident, organized a group of friends to set up a tent on the outskirts of Alberta. Starting Friday morning with
five cases of water, they have spent the last two days grilling hot dogs and hamburgers to give out to anyone in need. “We’ve bought a lot of water, but also trucks have come by with it,” she said. “We’ve given out LSU water, Ole Miss water and Alpha Chi water. The support has been phenomenal.” Despite the current abundance of supplies, Alberta will need volunteers and donations to aid the community’s recovery process over the coming weeks and months. Power will not be restored for at least four weeks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking applications from displaced Alberta residents, but the process is slow. Tyner said he hopes search and recovery will be finished by next week, at which point cleanup will begin.
HOW TO HELP // ALBERTA • Donate: Leland Shopping Center, corner of 26th Ave. E and 10th Street E, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 35404. They are accepting donations of ready-to-eat and nonperishable food items, tarps for covering roofs, clothing, newborn and baby items, clothes hangers, school supplies, sunscreen, wipes, soap, towels, washcloths, hand sanitizer, flashlights, deodorant and laundry detergent.
Above: An Alberta resident salvages his belongings from his home. Above left: The Texaco station at the intersection of University Boulevard and 25th Avenue East was destroyed by the tornado. Middle left: Houses and apartments on 7th Street East were directly in the path of the deadly storm. Left: Some Alberta residents have left religious messages and Bible verses on their demolished homes.
CW | Kelsey Stein
8
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
SPECIAL EDITION
The Crimson White
Community spotlight // Cedar Crest ‘This too shall pass’: Survivors reflect By William Evans and Hannah Mask The Crimson White “My house is broken,” threeyear-old Wyatt Miller told his grandmother Wednesday night after the tornado passed through. “I just cried when he told me,” Wilma Miller, 76, said. Three days after the tornado, Wyatt is excited to accompany his father when he hauls salvaged items from the house in his truck, and Wyatt’s mother said it’s time to move forward. “Reality has set in,” Rachelle Miller, 44, said. “Right after it happened, we were just in shock.” The main items have been moved out, she said, and luckily they were even able to save their photos. “We lost a lot,” Rachelle Miller said. “But we were lucky to walk out without a scratch.” They have temporary housing, she said, and after today, they will not be returning to the home they’ve lost. “Today, we have to finish,” she said. Search and rescue priorities have shifted from rescuing victims trapped under the rubble to recovery of those who have died as a result of the tornado, said firefighters on the scene at Cedar Crest. Clearing the road of debris and identifying hazards such as power outages and gas leaks are among the primary concerns for emergency crews tasked with spearheading the
relief effort and restoration of the city. The tornado has turned rows of houses into a mangled briar patch of twisted trees, splintered wood, shattered glass and upturned vehicles, some of which are lying on top of houses themselves. The affected areas have improved to this condition after three days of work by emergency crews who have spray-painted the damaged houses with numbers to indicate the number of deaths per household. Although many houses in Cedar Crest bore a zero to indicate no deaths, residents have spray-painted mementos of their own to show their hope or desperation. A Bible quote from the Book of Judges graced the front of a house in Cedar Crest that read, “The Earth shook and the skies poured down.” Next to that quote, the wall proclaimed, “This too shall pass.” Emergency and volunteer groups are focusing on assisting the survivors of the storm as cadaver dogs sniff through the rubble 30 minutes at a time to search for bodies. Meanwhile, on the street parallel to the Millers’, Blair Poe, a senior majoring in management and information systems, received MREs — meals ready to eat — from a postman. Though Poe said he has friends and family who are feeding him, he delighted in taking the MREs to boost his food supply. Poe said after receiving
warnings from weather channels about the tornado as early as Tuesday night, he took it seriously and prepared for the worst, making sure to take care of his dog, Dylan. “It built in intensity; I was just waiting to get sucked out,” he said, speaking of when the tornado hit his house. “I was in the bathtub face down holding onto my dog. He tried to jump out, but I held onto him ... He survived with me.” Poe counts himself lucky; he still has a front door and most of his roof. “It’s an indescribable feeling,” he said. “My house was shaking so hard I didn’t hear a tree fall through my bedroom. “It’s just a building, building roar. And all you hear are trees snapping, glass shattering. There was insulation blowing up under the bathroom door – I had it chained shut. I’m just extremely fortunate. I had a tree fall five feet away from me ... My house is still standing. It blows my mind.” After the tornado passed, Poe said he emerged from his shelter to find his neighborhood, where he’s lived for eight years, destroyed. “The most surreal feeling was stepping out of the front door,” he said. However, he only had to save a puppy crawling out of a shattered window. “It’s just strange that the people who needed help got themselves out on their own,” Poe said. Back on the Millers’ street,
CW | Kelsey Stein Homes throughout the Cedar Crest neighborhood off 15th Street were destroyed by the tornado. though, Morgan Sigler, Scott Atterton and Blake Peek weren’t so fortunate. “When we went over there, I saw a group of people gathering, so I knew it was probably something bad that I didn’t need to see,” he said. “One of the cancer doctors (David Hinton) had come out of [his son Dennis’] house and was telling people [a man] was under a tree, and I knew I couldn’t do anything for someone like that. “But that’s when a lot of feelings, emotions hit – the experts are walking around, people who can do something are here ... I just had to turn around at that point and just get my stuff
and get out, because I just couldn’t deal with seeing anything too gruesome after being through all the trauma of that.” Since the tornado, Poe said he’s having a hard time sleeping. “I finally fell asleep on my own, and I had a nightmare,” he said. “It’s like an overwhelming anxiety of being about to be sucked out, because it’s just like the movies. “My whole world was shaken; it wasn’t just the ground and the house. It was just everything. You just wait for it to peak; you just come to terms with everything in life ... It’s only something you can really replicate in your dreams.”
HOW TO HELP // CEDAR CREST • Sign up to volunteer: St. Matthias’ Episcopal Church, 2310 Skyland Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35405, 205-553-7282
Community spotlight // Wood Manor Neighbors dodge tornado, return to ruins By Jason Galloway Sports Editor Neighbors Sam Rombokas and Modell Hawkins used to wave at each other across the street and talk about why Rombokas’ grass always looked better than Hawkins’. “As soon as the weather looks good, you’ve got to scalp it,” he’d tell her. Now, after perhaps the worst weather their town has ever seen, their conversations will center around which possessions ended up in each other’s rubble-laden homes and where they can find volunteer-made burgers. Rombokas and Hawkins resided in Wood Manor, one of many communities off Hargrove Road that Wednesday’s EF-4 tornado did not spare. “It’s just stuff. I keep telling myself it’s just stuff,” Hawkins said. “You’re alive. That’s what counts.” Hawkins was lucky to have been visiting a doctor in New Orleans, where she lived for 27 years, when the storm hit. In 2005, she evacuated from Hurricane Katrina and returned to the Gulf to find her house just three blocks from where the flooding had stopped. In Tuscaloosa, she wasn’t so lucky. Rombokas, who graduated from the University nearly 40 years ago, was actually the one who called her Wednesday night to give her the heart-breaking news. “I was seriously sick at my stomach,” Hawkins said. “Just
a big knot because I had no idea if there was anything left.” Her house is now simply a pile of wood and bricks. She found her mattress hundreds of feet away from her property, and the tornado carried some of her possessions much farther. “I actually had a guy call me and said he found a Ziploc bag with some [of my] prescriptions and some receipts in his yard in Birmingham,” she said. Rombokas’ house, even more by chance, was also vacated when the storm hit. His daughter and baby granddaughter were scheduled to fly into Huntsville that night but got redirected to Birmingham because of the storms. Rombokas’ wife was in Huntsville to pick them up, and his daughter needed more formula to feed her baby, so Rombokas had to make the trip to Birmingham. They would have all arrived back at the house before the tornado swallowed it up, but his daughter wanted to wait for the car seat in her mother’s car. After the storm passed through, Rombokas’ brotherin-law, Bill Massengale, called him to tell him what had happened to his house. “It was hard for him to say,” Rombokas said. “At first it was, ‘Your house took a hit. It’s pretty bad.’ Then it turned into, ‘It’s totally devastated. It’s destroyed. There’s nothing left.’ “It was even worse than what I thought [when we got back].”
At Sam Rombokas’s house, only the bathroom still stands after Wednesday’s tornado. His family has been able to salvage many of their photographs and momentoes. CW | Brandee Easter
After the storm hit, there was a time for shock, a time to be still and wonder why this happened. But on Sunday, four days after the disaster, Rombokas’ and Hawkins’ properties were filled with people they didn’t know who were helping dig up whatever could be salvaged. Next door to Hawkins, at what’s left of the Central Church of Christ, a line of Disaster Assistance Church of Christ volunteers worked quickly to organize and deliver
meals to victims and give away supplies and clothes to those who lost everything. “It’s incredible,” Hawkins said. “I was living in New Orleans and evacuated from Katrina. I went back down there, and there was a lot of support down there, but I have to say, in some degrees, I don’t think near as much as what I’ve seen here.” The volunteers next door scrambled to help out under blazing heat. Many of them were not personally affected
by the storm. For them, that doesn’t matter. “No, that’s not necessary,” one of the volunteers said to a reporter after being asked for her name. “We’re just here to volunteer and help out.” The Rombokas family took a small break from cleaning Sunday afternoon. Sam Rombokas set up a camera facing where the frame of their front door still stands. His wife, two children and grandchild shifted together in front of what was left of their house
HOW TO HELP // WOOD MANOR • Donate or sign up to volunteer: Central Church of Christ, 304 Hargrove Road, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 35401 Disaster Assistance at Central Church of Christ is serving hot meals to the neighborhood and accepting donations of toiletries and clothing.
while he set the timer on the camera. A wide smile stretched onto the face of Sam’s daughter as she pet her baby’s head. His wife and son followed suit as they watched the baby smile back, and before the camera was even ready, the entire family was beaming in front of their destroyed home. They had lost everything but still had each other. “We’re over the pity party and moving on,” Rombokas said.