Alabama Tornado Outbreak April 2011

heycameraman@flickr

1.5 mile wide wedge Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado in downtown Tuscaloosa, AL.

On April 27th, my home state, Alabama, along with several other Southeastern states, was hit by a devastating outbreak of severe weather. It has now been estimated that roughly 362 tornadoes touched down over a three day span, the 25th-27th, 312 of which occurred on the 27th. The destruction and loss of life was staggering.  We had excellent warning, days of notice that severe weather was coming, and for many, up to half an hour of tracking coverage before an actual strike... still, the absolute power of the storms was too much, and despite the fact that these storms were taken very seriously by the majority of the populace, they were simply to strong, too big, too deadly, and many were killed in spite of their safety measures. So far, over 350 deaths have been recorded, and over 300 people are still unaccounted for.

 AGU Blogosphere Dan Satterfield

 Statistics courtesy of NOAA

 The clean up and relief efforts have started, but this isn't something that can be fixed in a week or even a month. The people affected by this storm will need long term support. The areas hit were highly populated, both urban and suburban. Communities I have known my whole life are gone, and people are left with nothing. These are my neighbors... these are your neighbors. Please offer whatever support you can, time, money, goods, blood, prayer... all of it is needed. Remember them when the next sensational story overshadows the coverage of their suffering. Below are some links where you can donate or sign up to volunteer your time. 

Samaritan's Purse

American Red Cross

Salvation Army

Feeding America

The Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

 Local churches are also organizing aid distribution and drop off sites, so check in your community to help at these aid stations. Also, contact your city hall for more information.

If you have been affected by the storms, please contact FEMA to apply for federal aid. 

 American Nation.Info

Boston.com

This site has many pictures of the devastation and puts a human face on much of it, such as this photo of a grandmother comforting her granddaughter... this tragedy happened to real people. (Fair warning, some of the reader comments are atrociously ignorant.)

myfoxal(courtesy Beth Shelburn's fb page)

Cullman County's tornado, destroyed much of downtown Cullman, including homes and businesses.

 wxbrad
The damage path of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado as seen from 41,000 feet.

A few, pictures from own community:

 These apartments have been condemned.

 Metal siding was ripped off like paper.

 Completely destroyed.

Total loss, owner has decided against rebuilding.

 The damage shown here is along the main stretch of highway and in no way shows the complete picture of what was affected. Other homes and businesses suffered greater damage. It is surreal, the extent of the destruction state wide, regionally wide. I have debris in my yard from 60 miles away, people's mail, parts of their homes...

Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Cullman, Pleasant Grove, Pratt City, Hackleburg, Cordova, Concord, Athens, Fultondale, Smithfield, Rosedale, and many, many other communities need our help.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'." Matthew 25:40

The Grinch That Stole Christmas...

...has apparently moved from the top of Mount Crumpit to Birmingham Alabama, or a surrounding suburb.

Crews clean up the debris from the city of Birmingham's Christmas tree in Linn Park, which was set afire by thieves early Wednesday.

Apparently, the person that did this was looking to strip the tree of its lights, and the lights of the copper in their wiring. I can't imagine that the wiring from a few strings of lights would yield a great enough quantity of copper to make such an undertaking worth the time and effort involved, but I suppose when you're short on both scruples and brains, even the most idiotic of schemes seems like a gem.

City officials didn't have many details Wednesday, but they said that, about 4 a.m., someone took the lights off the tree and apparently began using gasoline to try to separate the copper from the plastic casing. 

The fuel ignited.

"The fuel ignited." Imagine that. By the time the firefighters showed up, the tree was in ashes. The tree, which cost $7,500 was not going to be replaced by the city, the charred stump instead being covered by another symbol of the holiday season...

...the festive holiday Christmas cone. Feel the wonder. This guy did.

...And this is where the story gets good. You see, like in The Grinch, Christmas couldn't be stolen by someone whose heart was three sizes to small. The citizens of the city, the businesses, and radio stations all came together to make sure that the people of Birmingham could see a tree shining from Linn Park again, and soon.

As a result, little more than 24 hours after the tree was destroyed, shining holiday lights and ornaments will return to Linn Park this morning, a donation of radio station 98.7 Kiss FM and a quickly formed consortium of neighboring cities, business and individuals.

(I'm tricky, tricky with the crop tool! There's the new tree now!)

It wasn't so much about the tree as it was that people felt compelled to do something, to take something sad and make it glad. Now, to me, as a Christian, Christmas is about more than a fancy tree, pretty lights, or beautiful gifts, and nothing can steal that, not a Grinch, not a thief, not getting stuck with a fruitcake at the family gift exchange, but still, in a time when so many are concerned with the economy, terrorism, and the strife of politics, it's nice to see people come together, put their differences aside, and make sure that at least for a little while, all is bright.

acnatta's flickr (Linn Park 2006)

"Christmas day will always be

Just so long as we have we

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas bring your light."

 Dr. Seuss-The Grinch That Stole Christmas

All quotes and images from The Birmingham News unless otherwise noted.

Zombies, Zombies, Zombies!

What do you get when you take a bunch of people, some fake blood, and a hot June night?

I like to call this pic, "victim's last snapshot."

You get the Birmingham Couchsurfer's Zombie Crawl!

What is couchsurfing you ask? Well, it's a great travel organization used by millions of people. I'm not going to take the time here to explain it, but check out the link for more info. Birmingham has a very active CS community, and there is often a function taking place, as well as a weekly meet up. The Zombie crawl was my first official function. I'd been interested in joining the CS group for a while and this seemed like a good opportunity to get involved. 

The undead football player, 80's mall pop singer, and granny.

We started the night at The Barking Kudu. At first, it seemed like there might only be three or four of us, which...well, doesn't make for a very good horde. However, as the dark and heavy blanket of night came to settle over the city, legions of the undead began to walk the streets...and get organized. After all, we were a Zombie horde with a purpose, not just a bunch of aimless, brain-hungry undead. Once a pretty good crowd had gathered at the Kudu, we broke off into teams and were given lists detailing a scavenger hunt and several meet up times. 

"Haha! Pointing!"

Here we are finding one of the Couchsurfing stickers that had been placed in various locations throughout the city. There were many things on the list, 'find all the CS stickers, take a picture with an Elvis statue, etc, etc. 

Most unattractive picture of me ever.

This however, was worth bonus points. There were two cops in the middle of the intersection and Vickie, aka, undead granny starts to hobble over to them. "Excuse me! Excuse me, officers!" The officer takes one look and goes for his gun. He doesn't draw, but you can tell he's freaked out to the max. Vickie proceeds to explain what we're doing and asks if we can get a picture. He laughs and says that he thought she'd just been attacked. As far as the picture, he didn't mind, "as long as it doesn't end up on myspace." No worries sir...it won't be on myspace. (However, you never mentioned blogger.) So, thank you to one of Birmingham's finest for playing along. Also, apparently I didn't get the memo that we were all going to be really happy in this picture. 

Rowdy Roddey Piper!

We continued to drag ourselves through the city, stopping to stare into windows, startling unsuspecting restaurant patrons, disturbing local pubs, and causing general confusion and mayhem. Eventually, we invaded Innisfree Irish pub where the music was live and loud. Thank you Jasper Coal for a fun show!

Who doesn't love a little rough-throated Celtic punk, especially when they bust out the bagpipes! Yes, I admit it. I love bagpipes and I'm proud of it. Eh, anything that's got a Dropkick Murphy/Flogging Molly kind of feel to it is always good in my book. 

To quote a friend: "Hoppppppps, GRAIIIIIIIINS!" 

Zombie Michael Jackson up there is actually wearing my jacket. Why is the majority of my closet also ripe for costuming?

There was much dancing, singing, and clapping of hands...

 ...Oh, and of course eating of brains, that too. 

The crawl was great fun, and our group scored pretty big in the scavenger hunt, but still, it wasn't the main event of the evening. You see, by now, it's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark...

 White tights need to stay in the 80s.

What Zombie crawl would be complete without a performance of Thriller in the heart of downtown at the stroke of midnight? Yes, yes, I know, probably a lot of them, but ours wasn't! We had some audio problems and it's not like we're professionals, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. We sure did!

At this point, with this many post dance, sweaty, thirsty Zombies roaming around, Dave's had the funk of forty thousand beers. It was a great night, and a fun event for a CS newbie. Oh, and why did we choose June instead of say October? Because, much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects it.

A big thanks to the wonderful Crystal Murphy for the pictures and for organizing such a great event, and to Vickie Edwards for such a great welcome into the CS group!