I’d like to share with you folks some of my thoughts and experiences while visiting Tuscaloosa, Alabama this past week. While flying in to Tuscaloosa Jessica, Jemma and I had the opportunity to see from the air the swath of destruction that started in the Southeast part of town and ran all the way through the community of Holt- it was a path of destruction approximately a mile wide and six miles long. It looked awful from the air but once we were on the ground it felt even worse.

Tuesday morning we met Mayor Walter Maddox and his staff at City Hall. We left there and went directly to where the tornado first touched down in Tuscaloosa and saw the EMA & Environmental Services Buildings. Both were destroyed, along with all but three of the city’s garbage trucks. Starting at the heavily damaged Rosedale Court, we then saw the Charleston Apartments and also learned that while one of the city’s water towers was and is operational, two were destroyed.

Like many of you, I have read the Sports Illustrated article and saw what is left of the house that our long snapper Carson Tinker and his girlfriend Ashley Harrison were in. Then we drove over to the Wood Manor area to see the house where my former head football trainer Jim Goosetree lived, and where his wife, Mrs. Goosetree, was during the tornado. By the Grace of God Mrs. Goosetree survived. Now folks, I want to try to express to you how familiar I am with the entire town of Tuscaloosa…but I promise you, we were visiting places I didn’t recognize.

From Mrs. Goosetree’s, we drove to the Forest Lake area where at one time I actually lived. This lake had houses all around it before the tornado and now the trees and homes have disappeared…all you see is lake. We heard an unbelievable story of survival about a dog that was in a home in the Forest Lake area during the tornado and they found him approximately 50 miles away in Midfield, Alabama with only a broken leg! Remarkable!

From Forest Lake we drove out onto 15^th Street and headed toward McFarland Blvd. Normally you can’t see the hospital, but there it was high in the distance. Speaking of the hospital, thank God it was missed and that the generators kicked on when power was lost.

On our way to Alberta, we passed the Cedar Crest Apartment complex (another place I once lived) and it was leveled along with the intersection of McFarland Blvd. and 13^th Street. One of my favorite spots that disappeared was Full Moon BBQ. The store manager saved several of the patrons by taking them into the walk-in cooler. Everything other than that cooler was gone.

As we drove toward Alberta, the Mayor informed us the tornado had widened and was only getting worse. It was hard to imagine anything being worse than what we’d already seen. Once we got off Kicker and back onto University Blvd. the Mayor told us that all the concrete power poles we were seeing were new, since the tornado destroyed the old ones.

The utility department really came through!

We stopped at Alberta Elementary School and met with Councilmen Kip Tyner and Bob Lundell along with other officials from the city and the University of Alabama Athletic Department. Thank God students and faculty had been released early before the building was turned into a pile of rubble.

Driving into Holt, the Mayor informed us that in this area alone fourteen people lost their lives that afternoon. It seems strange to consider us lucky, but seeing the devastation it’s a wonder anyone survived.

Later that afternoon we had the opportunity to visit with volunteers around the city and see first hand the work they’re doing to help the victims of the tornado. We met the folks behind the scenes with ‘Recover Tuscaloosa’ and visited with them before meeting the team behind ‘Give Tuscaloosa’ at the Chamber of Commerce. From there we stopped by the Emergency Relief Services building and warehouse, where we met volunteers who had traveled all the way from Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia and Louisiana, to name a few! Seeing them and the work that they’re doing for people they don’t even know in a place they’re not from is such a heartwarming endorsement of love.

We finished the day at the Belk Center visiting with those who had lost their homes. Men, women and children were sleeping in its gymnasium and eating out of its cafeteria. These folks are really having a tough time, but you know what – I never heard a complaint. In the aftermath of such devastation, the optimism is high, which I think is attributed to the love and help these suffering folks are getting from the volunteers.

Lets continue to give aid and keep Tuscaloosa in our thoughts and prayers!

-Joe Namath

My daughter is a Junior in the School of Business as an Accounting Major Student at University Alabama. She lived at Charleston Square Apartments and was home taking shelter in her bathtub with her dog Lulu while the tornado produced devastation all around her.
 
As a mother I felt helpless and scared that I could not get to her and provide protection. Instead we talked on her cell phone during the entire tornado...how she did not lose service I will never understand. The only explanation I can find is that it was a blessing from God that I was at least able to be there for her as she described what she heard while lying in her bathtub. She told me that it definitely sounded like a train, she could hear cracking sounds, lots of thuds, glass breaking and could smell the scent of pine as tree's were breaking. This ordeal only lasted approximately 45 seconds to a minute. She then reported she could see the sun under her bathroom door and could hear voices and people walking around in or near her apartment. I told her to stay put a few minutes to make sure it was over which indeed it was. She reported her apartment complex has been destoryed around her. The apartment  above her was demolished. Rubble and debris filled the courtyard.
 
As any mother would do I immediately got in my car and despite that Dora was now under a Tornado warning I headed to Tuscaloosa to pick up my daughter before more predicted storms came. My Sister and Husband accompanied me. Unfortunately, during my trip to Tuscaloosa we did loose cell service and the authorities made Brittany evacuate. She was unable to contact me to tell me she had left the apartment. As I made my way up 69 highway to 15th and the finally onto 10th avenue I saw the barracade set up that would provent me from getting to my daughter...I decided to turn left to seek an alternate route and by the Grace of God when I turned my daughter and her dog Lulu were coming down 10th ave and was just about to cross the street I had just turned onto. I was so relieved to see her...I jumped out hugged her and got her in the car and immediately turned the car around and headed back to Dora to the safety of our underground basement. It had been over an hour drive and we needed to make a pit stop but everything was closed...we knocked on the door of a closed business that I will not identify as the employees were told to lock up and not let anyone in and I appreciate them and wish not to cause them trouble...but they let us in to use the restrooms and even provided her dog with water.
 
We made it home safely and no other storms actually came. We are lucky and blessed that she is alive and well. I truly believe that it is by God's Grace she was protected. The night I picked my daughter up I did not see the devastation of her apartment complex. However, the next morning we went back to salvage any of her belongings that we could and when I saw the debris and rubble it really hit me hard just how blessed and lucky we are and tears came to my eyes. However, my daughter although she had been through such an ordeal was ready to help others while we waited to get into her apartment. She assisted her Uncle in removing trees for some of the residents on 27th street and help an older lady on 15th find her purse in the rubble that use to be her house. I am very proud of her. We have also donated supplies to Metro Animal Clinic and plan to continue to volunteer whenever we can. Although Brittany has been through a devastating ordeal and lost both personal property and a car she recognizes that others have lost the same and some more. We are both thankful for the blessings God has given us and hope we can give back to others in the Tuscaloosa Community and other communities that experienced the devastation of the tornadoes.

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This is my experience during the tornado that swept through Alberta and Tuscaloosa in as much detail as I can muster with the medication I am on. I need to put this down for therapeutic reasons and for others to read because I can't keep re-telling this story. If you are to take anything away from this story it is two things: 1)God saved so many people that day including me and 2)disasters bring out the absolute best in some people...and the absolute worst in others. I am going to write down the events exactly as I remember them while I still can. I will add details that I have gathered from accounts by my neighbor and judging from materials stuck inside my body. I would also like to point out that any person I don't reference by name (such as neighbor) I had not really met before. Here goes:

At roughly 4pm on April 27, 2011, I was sitting in FI 414 class listening to presentation on industries and the severe weather alarms went off and the University cancelled classes for the rest of the day. I considered staying on campus, but I saw everyone else leaving and decided I would be fine going to my apartment. This is probably my biggest regret of my life purely for the fact that I let the actions of others sway my opinion and nearly kill me. I walked to my truck that was parked roughly a mile away near the Coliseum. I knew we were in for a storm when the wind knocked my backpack off my shoulder halfway there. I made it to my truck and drove to my apartment that was located at the intersection of University Blvd. and 25th Avenue East in Alberta City, AL. During my drive, I received several texts from both my older and younger sisters warning me that some severe storms were heading to my area. Naturally, I discounted them as hysteria and paranoia and continued on my merry way. I got to my apartment at roughly 4:30pm and popped a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. I turned on my computer and pulled up my assignments for the night. As I began working through my homework, I got some more texts from friends warning me of the weather. I assured them all that I would be perfectly safe in my sturdy apartment. The timer for the pizza went off so I got it out of the oven and took two slices to my room. I hadn't eaten much for lunch so I was ravenous. I ate nearly the entire pizza. This small detail probably saved my life. More on that later.

The power in my apartment went out at roughly 5pm and so I opened the shades on my window to read and look outside. I noticed the trees behind my apartment swaying at a steep angle. Then I decided I should probably close all windows and doors. I did so. Just then my buddy Sean Philips texted me that I should find cover. I was coming up with a clever retort about how paranoid he is being when my ears popped really hard and I heard what sounded like a train outside my window. I had watched enough news to know this meant a tornado. I jumped into my closet and slammed the door shut. I felt the whole building shaking so I grabbed the door knob and held it shut with all my strength. Then I heard tearing and ripping noises which had to be my back wall tearing away. At this point, I wanna point out that if any of these events had occurred slightly differently or in a different order, I would have been buried. Anyway, the back wall tore away from the building and the door to my closet began shaking open and I kept pulling it back closed. After a couple seconds of this struggle, the door and I were sucked out of the closet and through the back wall. I never rose more than a couple feet off the ground but, judging from memories of where things were, I flew about 40 feet total. The winds flung me from the back wall into the chain link fence 10-15 feet behind my apartment with enough force to leave bruises of the chain links in my side. It then flung me back into some piles of rubble where I was then rolled around on the ground for about 15 seconds before it subsided slightly. I looked up from my prone position and I was lying on tile floor and I could see my neighbor lying on top of her baby trying to shield her. I also heard myself screaming and realized I had been screaming the entire time but hadn't noticed.

 The winds were beginning to pick up again so I ran over to my neighbor and threw myself on top of them to try and shield them. Somewhere along the way I stepped on a piece of wood with enough force to shove a 3-inch piece through the bottom of my foot. Please take note, this was not an act of heroism, but desparation. As far as my concussed mind could think, I truly believed during that split second that we three were the only beings left in a world that had dissolved around us. I acted to try and preserve the only other people left in this Hell so I wouldn't be alone if I survived. I laid on top of her and immediately the winds picked up again. I was bombarded with (judging from wounds and what is still imbedded in my back at the time of this writing) glass, roofing shingles, pieces of wood, and a Bic pen. LOL. I know this for sure because I pulled it out of my side when I stood up. The storm finally dissipated after roughly 10-20 seconds and slowly stood up. Due to adrenaline and shock, I did not notice any of the injuries I suffered. However, I did notice that I could barely hear anything and my ears were bleeding from the pressure of the storm (the earlier popping that alerted me of the tornado). Everyone's ears were. The poor baby's ears were pouring blood. At this point, I surveyed my body. My jeans, watch, glasses, and shirt had been ripped from my body.Somehow, I was still holding my iPhone in my right hand. Just then a call came through. It was my older sister, Christina. I could only stare at it in disbelief before answering. I don't remember our conversation, but she later relayed it to me. Here it is as she remembers it:

Christy: Randy??? Randy???

Me: Kiki! My apartment; it's gone. The baby is bleeding. I lost my glasses. My foot is bleeding bad. There are people stuck. I have to go.

I then hung up the phone because people were screaming from within piles of rubble. I limped over to the nearest pile where one of my neighbor's head was sticking out from beneath a section of roof. I pulled off a couple small pieces of wood before collapsing. I think I blacked out for a couple seconds. Next thing I remember, he is digging himself out. He comes to check on me and almost slips in the puddle of blood and water at my feet. He tears off his shirt and ties it around my foot (I had no shoes or socks on before it hit). He helps me stand and we look around at the damage. I see my childhood friend Austin and his girlfriend Mary and their dog that live six doors down from me. They are standing in their bathroom. I yell to them and then begin trying to crawl out. At some point I believe a neighbor (maybe Mary) throws me a woman's loafer which I put on my left foot to protect it. It was a left shoe that was about 2 sizes too small but I barely noticed. I can't walk because of my foot so i throw some sections of my couch across the short wall of sharp debri between me and what's left of the parking lot and begin crawling on my hands and knees across. Due to the composition and layout of the debris, I am forced to crawl on my belly under my truck to get out (it was then parked in my living room and totalled).

I finally reach the parking lot covered in blood, dirt, oil, and sheetrock dust. I lend a neighbor my phone and then I spot my friend and neighbor, Brandon and hobble to him to check him out. Amazingly, he is unhurt. We both hear someone yelling that another storm is about to touch down in the area so we immediately take off to find shelter. I lose track of everyone else. Austin and Mary help dig out some neighbors. Brandon lends me his shoulder and we begin walking (me hopping) to the Piggly Wiggly down the street. We hear that they are not letting people in so we detour to the local Save-A-Lot and ask the manager if he is letting people in. He lets us in. I sit on the nearest checkout station while Brandon runs to find first aid supplies. He finds peroxide, paper towels, and scotch tape. I use what little Spanish I know to try to cheer up a small hispanic child that was crying near me. I begin to feel very faint from blood loss so I start chugging as much Gatorade as possible to keep blood sugar up so I don't pass out. The pizza I ate earlier also probably kept me awake and alive. Brandon begins cleaning and wrapping my foot. We then see that there is still wood sticking out. We wrap paper towels and tape over it to try to stop the blood loss.

I then begin to feel a slight itchy, burning sensation on my back so I asked him to take a look. He says that I have a few cuts on my back. I'm glad he didn't tell me the extent to which it was messed up. We stay in the store and wait for the next tornado to touch down. I sit on a rolling cart so that Brandon could quickly wheel me to the back if it came. We were all getting ready to run to the back and lock ourselves inside the freezer. I tell Brandon to gather some food and water in case we are trapped inside the store. I feel prepared, so I try to slow breathing and heart rate to slow blood flow. Some time later (I began losing track of time and events) we see people run into the bank to steal money and cops arrest them. This pissess us all off for obvious reasons. Brandon and I walk (and hop) up to the Texaco because we hear they have set up a triage center there. We get there and they turn us away so we go back to the store. I am exhausted from blood loss and hopping everywhere. I should point out that I am hopping down the street wearing only my silver cross necklace and boxers and the homemade bandages on my foot. It's funny now, not so much then.

 We stay in the store for a while. A woman who was in the store earlier comes running back and leads a cop to where I'm lying. I owe her and Brandon both my life. I would have bled out within a couple hours if that cop hadn't found me. He calls in a truck and I jump in the back and they drive me to the hospital. I ask for pen in the bed of the truck so I can write my name and medical info and mom's phone number on my body in case I pass out again and can't talk to nurses. We get to the hospital and I am assigned a radomized name for legal reasons (Raja Ed Downtime). I ask over and over again for them to call my mom to check on Jessica because she is home alone in Homewood and I heard a storm passed by there. 

I will never forget the nurse who helped me, Nurse Jackie. She checked up on me throughout my X-Rays and CT scans and stitches over the next 6-8 hours. I felt like I was her only patient although she likely had scores of them at this time. I plan on thanking her personally as soon as I can travel. 

This is where the story ends. I am just one person among hundreds, possibly thousands of people hurt in a city where neighbors and strangers alike risked their own lives to save each other. I tried to help who I could any way I could and I owe my life to many others. Thank you, Nurse Jackie for consoling me while I was alone for those many hours. Thank you, Brandon for lending me a friendly shoulder and thinking only of others. Thank you, Lady from Save-A-Lot for finding me a ride to the hospital. Thank you, Mom for forcing Delta airlines to let you off of a plane preparing to take off. Thank you, Jimmy and Jessica for looking throughout hospital (and morgue) for me for hours before finding me. Thank you to the men and women of the National Guard, fire departments, and police departments around the state. Many of us wouldn't have made it without yall. And, of course, thank you, GOD. Even as the clothes and material possessions were ripped from my body, your symbol stayed fimly around my neck and in my heart.     

It is long, but I can already feel a massive weight lifted from my chest. This note has done its job. If you are reading this, you are my friend and share the honor of calling me "pal".  ;)

My story is not one of a direct survivor, but one of an Alabamian in England who is physically unable to help in the rebuilding, but whose spirit is forever in Dixie...

Paige Poole

When you grow up in Alabama, tornados sirens are the background music to a normal spring, knowing what a "safe place," funnel cloud, wall cloud, and "hook" is considered common knowledge. You learn young how to do tornado drills in school--how you should sit with your back against the wall, away from windows, and you should tuck your head between your knees and cover your head with a thick textbook. You will do this tornado drill at least two times a semester and will hear the tornado sirens being tested every first Wednesday of the month. You are guaranteed to see at least one local weather man, if not more, before you leave elementary school and if you don't know who James Spann is, well you're out of the loop. You get used to seeing a small replicate of your state (with all the counties outlined) appear at the bottom right corner of your screen should there be even the slightest threat of bad weather; you also get used to annoyingly missing your favorite TV shows due to "severe weather updates."
I think I am right to say that tornadoes are a normal part of growing up in Alabama. Even so, I think many of us become so accustomed to hearing the sirens, listening to James Spann's warnings, and practicing tornado drills in school that we don't take seriously the very real threat of a tornado. More often than not it is more of a "threat" and tornadoes do little damage to human life and property. We get used to hearing the sirens, but not experiencing a tornado. It reminds me of the "boy who cried wolf"--the sirens sound so often and so rarely produce a real tornado that when a serious tornado comes, we aren't prepared.

On Wednesday April 27th, I remember waking up and checking my Facebook (as is normal) and seeing Stephanie Pope Allums status "Not excited that i am about to wake up my baby to go to the basement. I hate this weather and this hour of the day!!!" Out of curiosity I looked at the weather forecast for the Birmingham metro area for the rest of the day--strong storms were expected with the threat of tornadoes. After a quick look at the news, I headed off to work the TESOL resource room for the School of Education. I went on about my day without thinking more about the weather in Alabama, or really Alabama in general. When I got home, I made my dinner, watched some TV and then out of pure curiosity decided to see what the weather had been like for the rest of the day in Alabama. Instead of doing what I would normally do--look on The Weather Channel's website--I decided to find live streaming of a news channel back home (ABC 33/40). As soon as the channel began streaming, I saw a horrible image, an image that I will never forget. I saw an enormous tornado image, with James Spann's voice saying the tornado was headed for downtown Tuscaloosa--the city that became my home for 4 years while I was at the University of Alabama. I was in shock.

I watched as the tornado passed through Tuscaloosa, constantly wondering if my friends were in their "safe places." Few other thoughts entered my mind as I continued to watch the massive tornado continue to destroy everything in its path. James Spann was clearly at a loss for words several times, and I had never seen him so adamant in telling people to be in their safe places, suggesting they put on helmets to protect their heads, and practically cursing the few cars still visible on the interstates as the tornado continued to move northward. As Spann began saying the tornado was headed for the Bessemer/Hueytown area, I went into a panic. I phoned my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sister and no one answered. At last, I was able to communicate with my grandad on Facebook who said the storm was approaching and that he could hear debris falling outside of his gift shop, Hut Stuff. After a few minutes, though, I lost communication with him.

James Spann continuously said that this tornado had caused total devastation in Tuscaloosa, but that no images would be shown or damage discussed until the storm had passed through the rest of the "viewing area." Thus, I watched for at least another 1.5hr as the storm continued to pass through Alabama. In the meantime, I was manically watching videos of the tornado in Tuscaloosa uploaded by UA students, Tuscaloosa citizens, and news casters following the storm as well as looking at the pictures being uploaded onto ABC 33/40's Flickr page. It was unreal to see the horrifying videos and images. It was as if I were watching a movie...not watching a tornado destroy places close to my heart. I burst into hysterical tears as I realized the full gravity of the situation. 

After the storm had cleared through the Hueytown/Concord/Pleasant Grove area, I continued to frantically call my family. Finally I got a text from my sister saying they were safe, in the basement (their "safe place"), and that there was no signal for them to call me/answer my calls. Cut off from news of the tornado, they were totally unaware of the massive tornado that had passed them by. Around the same time I got a text from my best friend at the University of Alabama saying she was ok and had waited out the storm in the basement of BB Comer (the language building at the University of Alabama). I felt better knowing my family and close friends were safe, but was still anxious to see the damage this massive tornado had caused.
James Spann finally said that they would be doing the 10 o'clock news and they would be showing some of the damage from the storm. I was too anxious, nervous, and worried to sleep anyway. By this time it was 4am (Leeds, England time). The 10 o'clock news was more like the 10:30pm news, as it took a while longer for the storm to pass. When they began showing the images of the damage and destruction  left behind I was in shock. My body trembled and tears streamed down my face as I saw the images from Tuscaloosa--15th Street and McFarland Blvd, the images from Concord, where my cousin lost his house, and from Pleasant Grove where several friends lost their homes and loved ones.

As people began realizing, too, the extent of damage volunteers began emerging, collection points were set up, and before I knew it I was re-tweeting on Twitter and sharing on Facebook each and every detail of where people could volunteer, what areas needed what supplies, and who was coordinating rescue/clean-up efforts. I felt it was one way I could contribute to the rebuilding of these cities. Since Wednesday I have been glued to my computer screen constantly reading status updates, tweets, and emails from my friends and family members in the affected areas. I watched live as President Obama toured areas of Tuscaloosa and as actor Charlie Sheen brought attention back to Alabama on the day Osama Bin Laden was killed.

I can honestly say that in the almost 8 months I have been living in England, I have never once felt so far away from home and so helpless as I have in the past week. It was hard not to board the first plane home. I am a doer; I am a volunteer, and I am an Alabamian. I want, more than anything, to be home helping rebuild. Instead, I am across the pond trying against my will to finish up my end of the semester assignments. While I am physically in England my heart is in Dixie.

This is not going to be an easy or fast road to recovery and I hope Alabama is not forgotten about in the near future. I know I have mentioned Tuscaloosa and the Hueytown/Concord/Pleasant Grove areas (because those are the areas I am most connected to), but there are lots of other communities (too many to name) that have been just as devastated.

My name is Dohn Dye & I am Director of the Miss Alabama USA pageant which was held in Tuscaloosa last fall.

Madeline Mitchell the current Miss Alabama USA is an Education Major at UA and has decided to write a childrens book with proceeds of the sell of the book benefiting tornado victims. With us both having ties to Tuscaloosa we would like the proceeds to benefit the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund.

We literally came up with the idea tonight but so far we have of course the author and an illustrator. Our hope is to find a printer to donate the printing of 1,000 copies of the book, sell them for $20 per book, and raise $20,000.00, hopefully for your organization.

We will sell the book off of a website & at appearances/readings throughout the state. Ideally upon purchasing the book through the website the buyer would be linked directly to your pay/pal & of course books purchased on person checks would be made directly to you.

Im certain you're very overwhelmed at the moment, but if you think this is something you would like to be involved in, please contact me asap.

Sincerely,

Dohn Dye