My friends and I returned to Tuscaloosa from Northport the morning after the tornado. It took us at least an hour just to go a few miles. We noticed damage we had not yet seen on our way back. A number of cars were mangled off the side of 359; I don't know whether they had been blown off the road by the tornado or just so damaged by the tornado that they were not drivable. Either way, it was horrible to see.
And it was even worse to see the city of Tuscaloosa again. It hit me especially hard to see 15th Street because it is the street where both of my brothers and I live. Seeing it all again in the daylight hit me like a ton of bricks. It's truly a miracle that my apartment complex was basically untouched; houses just a few hundred feet from mine were unrecognizable.
That day, our group did what we could to help a friend whose house was beyond repair. Thank God he wasn't home when the tornado hit; his roommate was, under a mattress in his bathtub, and amazingly he is okay. I had seen the destruction along 15th as a whole, but seeing the destruction of this single house was really hard. And all their neighbors were just as unfortunate.
Later we walked along Hargrove, and that was even worse than what I had already seen. Although many have volunteered since, and much of the debris has been cleared, it's like every damaged area is worse than the last.
Scotty and I ended up leaving Tuscaloosa on Thursday night (Kenny drove us there since we're both without cars for a while...), the day after the tornado, to stay with Katie in Oneonta for a few days. There was very little good I could do in Tuscaloosa at that point with no transportation and no resources.
While I was in Oneonta, Brian Williams and President Obama both visited Tuscaloosa. Two of my favorite people in my very own town! I only wish the circumstances hadn't been so unfortunate.
On Saturday morning, my mom drove down from Madison to Oneonta to pick Scotty and me up... and to give us really big hugs, obviously. We all stayed at Kenny's condo in Tuscaloosa for a few days (since his place had power and Madison was still without). I was so grateful to be with my Mom, and I know she was glad to be with us. Can you imagine all three of your children's lives being threatened so seriously at the same time? Scary.
That Sunday night, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. That news would've meant more to me any other time. As it was, I was mostly just paranoid that this news would take focus off the tornado damage across the South.
We had originally planned to go home with Mom, but instead Scotty and I decided to stay in Tuscaloosa to volunteer for a few days. She left on Monday, and we went to volunteer that afternoon at UA Greek Relief that afternoon with my friends Laura, Chase, Chris, and Joey.
This group was certainly doing a great thing, delivering thousands of hot meals to victims and volunteers every day for a week. My friends and I were happy to help, despite the fact that we are all "independents." I hate to criticize anybody who contributed after the tornado because we are all absolutely on the same team. My only criticism, which is obviously secondary to my appreciation of the organization, is that the group was too focused on self-promoting. I understand using social media to ask for donations and volunteers, but I don't think it was necessary for them to brag about what percent of the hot meals in Tuscaloosa they were responsible for. Again, more importantly, their contributions were enormous.
So we decided to find other organizations to volunteer with in the coming days. Chase, Chris, and I stayed at Laura's apartment (which was outside the damaged area) for the week to volunteer. It was raining all day Tuesday, so all we were able to do was register at St. Matthias church (the volunteer headquarters at that time) to volunteer the next day.
Early Wednesday morning, the one week anniversary of the tornado, we (and Joey) went downtown to volunteer for Samaritan's Purse. This organization is a religious one, but all that mattered to us was that they provided us and hundreds of other people a chance to get our hands dirty and really help Tuscaloosa.
Eddie (our able-bodied, chainsaw wielding team leader) drove us to Alberta, an extremely hard hit area in the eastern part of Tuscaloosa. I almost cried when I saw it in person; I'd seen it on the local and national news, but of course seeing it in person was harder.
We were with a group of maybe fifteen people that cleared debris (trash, parts of houses, and lots of trees) for about five or six hours. In that time, we made significant progress in clearing three yards. THREE YARDS. It's hard to fathom how many man-hours will be required to clear the eighty mile path of destruction caused by our single tornado. Saying it will take years is no exaggeration.
Later that afternoon, we tried to donate blood. Unfortunately, the blood drive (done by an organization that shall remain nameless) we went to was very poorly organized, and we didn't have time to donate. Next time, I'll only trust my blood donating to the Red Cross.
Thursday was Cinco de Mayo, and Scotty's birthday. We were physically and emotionally exhausted from the day before, so we used the day to run a few errands and relax. In addition to being Scotty's birthday, it also happened to be the night of what was supposed to be my last undergraduate final. In an alternate universe where the tornado never hit, we would all certainly have been celebrating. Enjoying ourselves in spite of the tornado just felt right.
Friday morning, we called the UA Community Service Center to find a volunteer opportunity. After a bit of a misunderstanding, we ended up volunteering at the Temporary Emergency Services (TES) down 15th Street. Another exhausting, overwhelming, and rewarding experience! We unloaded seemingly never-ending donations from a long line of vehicles into the giant warehouse. Bags and bags of clothes, food, and other supplies were stacked high all around us as volunteers worked to keep everything organized. It was a beautiful sight, and I know this warehouse was just one of many being run across the city and state.
After TES, my friends and I volunteered by helping a church to deliver hot meals. I assumed we would be going to Alberta or Holt, but we actually went the other direction near where the tornado first touched down. The damage that we saw was again horrific. It's especially hard to see because so many of the affected areas weren't very nice in the first place; so many people who were already poor before the tornado have even less now. Another eye-opening day, for sure.
That night I went with my best friend Katie to Gallettes, a very popular bar if you aren't familiar with Tuscaloosa. Again, it was what I should have been doing in an alternate universe in which graduation was supposed to be the next morning.
Mom drove down to Tuscaloosa on Saturday to find an apartment for me to live in next year and finally to take Scotty and me home. We bought "T-Town, Never Down" t-shirts and celebrated my would-be graduation day with lunch at Tut's with Kenny.
And so ended my time in Tuscaloosa.
A few photos from the days following the tornado:
Downed tree at my friend's house.
Between Hargrove and 15th.
Across the street from my apartment. Notice the missing forest from "Forest Lake."
The building right next to mine.
A glimmer of hope from my shattered back windshield.
A closer view of Forest Lake's forest...
One of the places where we delivered hot meals.
This post turned out a little more personal than I intended. And it may also have turned out less positive than I hoped. Instead of attempting to edit my original account, I would like to add a few closing remarks.
The relief efforts I saw in the week I spent in Tuscaloosa post-"April's Fury" were simply beautiful. I expected to see an overwhelming number of students, victims, and Tuscaloosa residents working to clean up our town. What really touched me was the incredible number of outsiders who inconvenienced themselves to come help us rebuild. So many individuals traveled from all over, and I can't begin to list all the organizations (even if I knew them all) who have helped in some way.
I wish I could personally thank every single person who has volunteered time or money to help Tuscaloosa recover. For now, this is all I can do. Thank you all so very much.
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