Now that we are coming up on the anniversary of the terrible storms that swept through Alabama in April of 2011, we had some people come by work to talk to us about anniversaries of traumatic events and the stress it can cause. We moved from Tuscaloosa to Randolph about 3 weeks after the storm hit, so several people have asked about it. Generally I'll give a brief description of the damage and the long hours that were put in the weeks following at work. Not many people ask what it was like, so I thought it would be beneficial for myself and my kids to record this while it is fresh, although I don't think I can ever get that day out of my head or heart. I remember in the movie Titanic, the old lady starts off with how long it had been since the Titanic had set sail. A guy says to just remember what she can. She states that she can still remember the smell of the fresh paint. I'm not saying that this story is in any way worse or better than others, but it is my story and one that only I can tell.
What many people don't remember or realize is that we had already had 4 or 5 storms or tornadoes come through our area previously. We were already tired of working a month of sporadic 16-18 hour days. The morning of April 27th started out with a flurry in a quite literal sense. That morning at about 4:45 am there was a tornado that ripped through Coaling. What many people don't know is that we already had more power outages that morning than when Hurricane Ivan came through in 2005. Charles Elledge and I were in charge of crews tasked with restoring power to all of Coaling and part of Vance and Cottondale. We had been working hard since 5:30 that morning and we were having some map issues at about 3 pm. Charles and I decided to keep the crew working and head back to the office to get correct maps for us and the crew that was working for us. As we were heading back, Russell Hill called on the radio and said that some big storms were heading towards Tuscaloosa. We got to the office and got our maps and stopped in the storm room which is the hub for restoration efforts. The other employees were glued to the TV as we watched the storm coming directly towards us. At 4:20 Greg Long (our manager) said that we needed to go to the basement. As we were down there, all of the office building was downstairs in the hallway. People were watching the TV through the glass doors reporting to everyone. The lights flickered many times which tells us that something is going on. Tammy Graves began praying aloud for the families that were in harm's way and ours. The collective "Amen" was chilling. My dad got in touch with me and said he was unable to hear from Anna. I called to make sure everyone was ok, and called the family back.
When we were give the "all clear" signal, we went back up to the second floor to the storm room to see what damage had been done. We saw our number of customers go up from 2,000 to 40,000 to 140,000 and we sat back in stunned amazement. It was then decided that we would just go out to look our hand over to get bearings on what needed to be done. Charles asked if we could go to Crescent Ridge Road District Substation since his family was living nearby. The drive down Jack Warner Parkway was ominous. It was darker than usual. No cars. We turned onto Crescent Ridge Rd and the traffic was backed up. The police saw that we were with Alabama Power and allowed us to pass through. We could only get to Holt Elementary School until we had to park. We couldn't get through since a oak tree about 5' in diameter was across the road. We would have to "walk the line out from here" we thought.
As we got out of the truck we got our safety gear together and headed off. I remember counting the number of poles down trying to remember the details. Then we topped the hill and saw it. We were able to see the water tower 2 miles away. You had never been able to see it from there before, but the tornado had "cleared" a path so that there was nothing that could be hidden. That's when our eyes settled onto the carnage and we stopped in utter disbelief and horror. Even today I still hear the screams of people calling for their loved ones. The sound and smell of chain saws being used by prisoners. The sound of sirens and helicopters. The feeling of sorrow and despair in the air that is so thick you can't breathe. Our purpose shifted from locating fallen power poles to locating Charles' family. We proceeded to Keene Drive, but had difficulty finding it because ALL of the landmarks were gone. We were crawling over the roofs of houses that had fallen... through swimming pools whose water was sucked out... through houses that had no roof only a couple of 2x4 frame pieces until we came to Keene Drive. We were heading to where his family was and I called Anna. I just wanted to hear her voice again.
We looked for people to help, but it was difficult to find where to start. I saw an adult being placed on a door with a sheet over him. That didn't bother me too badly, however the baby that was wrapped in the sheet did. I broke. Charles and I had to stop. We prayed. And I called Anna again. I had to hear the boys' voice. There are no words to describe, I knew they were ok, but I had to hear them. In a place where there is so much despair, I had to hear some glimpses of my joy.
We eventually found his family. Their house was one of 2 still standing with minor damage. They were very fortunate. SOMA church was still standing nearby and became a refuge for those needing shelter and help (just what a church is supposed to be). Through this whole thing though I still found peace when the dust settled. Some had their faith rocked, some had it restored or renewed. I stood in awe of what God can do. When we read in God's word how we are children of his wrath, and how Christ took the whole of His wrath when he bore the cross makes me humble. We only tasted a glimpse of His power which is awe inspiring.
After the storm cleared we were working 16 hour days to restore power to those who needed some sense of normalcy. I recall one lady in particular whose home was miraculously saved by flailing mobile homes flying past her home. When we were able to restore her power, she ran to me and hugged me with all she had. This was the embrace of someone who was broken but had faith in God that He would provide. Christ is the hope to those without it, he is the healer to those that are hurting. I also recall working in Peterson where an I-beam from the undercarriage of a mobile home had wrapped around a 4" water oak. The I-beam was "bow-tied" around this lone tree. By all logic there is no definitive reason why this was possible. The tree should have snapped in comparison to the strength of the beam. But God, who created this universe, is still showing us that we aren't as wise or intelligent as we lead ourselves to be.
0 comments:
Post a Comment