Sorry I'm behind on my disaster deployment blogs from the South friends, this job has very limited wifi-data-cell coverage on the job so I am limited to posting from the wee hours when we get back from the job. More to come...
It was a busy day at the Red Cross shelter in Tuscaloosa, AL today. We had two special guests: Brian Williams from NBC Nightly News and University of Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban.
Brian Williams visited with clients and played cards on the shelter floor with children. He talked and listened with awe as they each shared their amazing stories of survival.
Coach Saban brought along dinner and Alabama gear for all of the shelter residents and brightened the mood of the shelter ten fold. As he signed all of their new Alabama gear, shelter residents were a buzz with excitement and all smiles.
While damage in Tuscaloosa is furious- the spirits of the people of here is hopeful. Today Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles were finally able to navigate around rubble in neighborhoods to feed residents, first responders and clean-up crews.
The damage is just unreal. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. I’ve been to other tornados and they don’t even compare. The destruction here seems to be at a different level…almost incomprehensible. Cars crumbled like paper. Houses folded like a house of cards. Neighborhoods unrecognizable.
There aren’t enough words to describe the emotions that rush over you when you see the things that you see in Tuscaloosa and many parts of the south this week.
It’s one thing to see it on TV, but totally different to see the destruction after you know the people who have suffered through it. Your heart breaks a little bit more. I’m just glad I’m here to listen and to help make their life a little bit easier.
2 comments:
I agree that you can't really know what's it's like until you've been there. I went to Mississippi and Alabama for a week to volunteer after Katrina. It's so sad to see people's homes gutted, abandoned, knocked down, etc.
But it's amazing how high-spirited and hopeful they were about the future. Helping people rebuild their homes was an amazing experience. I really hope that we as American's can come together and help those affected by the recent tornados. The Red Cross is a great organization- one of the best when it comes to disaster relief. I'm glad the Red Cross is down there.
I agree that you can't really know what's it's like until you've been there. I went to Mississippi and Alabama for a week to volunteer after Katrina. It's so sad to see people's homes gutted, abandoned, knocked down, etc.
But it's amazing how high-spirited and hopeful they were about the future. Helping people rebuild their homes was an amazing experience. I really hope that we as American's can come together and help those affected by the recent tornados. The Red Cross is a great organization- one of the best when it comes to disaster relief. I'm glad the Red Cross is down there.
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