Devastating Tornado Damage in Tuscaloosa

[BAMA1979]

I just want to express my deepest sympathy to all of the fine Alabama people I met on my trip to T-town last September. The hospitality was second to none, and it is so sad that the fine people of this region, and throughout all of the South for that matter, have had to endure this tragedy.

I know there is little I can say that will ease your pain and suffering, but do know that there are people from other parts of the Country who are thinking of you in this time of need.

God Bless, Nittany Ed

Thanks for the kind words for our friends in the northern parts of the state. This year will be my first trip to Happy Valley. From what I've heard, it will be an amazing experience!

 

[BamaQT]

do you mean fountainbleu apts down on 27th? if so, you can see them in the flyover video about 2/3 of the way through. one of the corners was flattened

I lived at Fountainbleau when I was in school (late 70's early 80's). The section that was demolished was where my apt was (# 8 upstairs towards the corner)..... I guess they are called "Charleston Square" now.

 

[ART]

Still sitting here in shock over the past 30+ hours.......there's just no words to describe this much devastation. ='( There was lots of damage south of me on Lake Martin too. I can't get the link to work, but the pics were just as bad as seen in T-Town. There has been search teams out today looking for the missing in the lake. I have family in every area that was hit. They are all ok becuase of God's grace.

 

[OldNo7]

Veteran's Memorial Parkway is okay. No major trees obstructing the roadway or anything. Going west, the road is clear until Home Depot (after which the police have it blocked off). Going east, as of 1:00 AM last night (Wednesday night/Thursday morning), there were some down power lines in the road in the outside lane, but other than that it was clear.

 

[FitToBeTide]

please update us.

I will try and post something this evening after we get back.

 

[92tide]

I lived at Fountainbleau when I was in school (late 70's early 80's). The section that was demolished was where my apt was (# 8 upstairs towards the corner)..... I guess they are called "Charleston Square" now.

i was on the 10th street side. fun place to live at the time

 

[RedStar]

Here are some aerials of Hackleburg, AL about halfway between the Shoals and Tuscaloosa. Complete devestation. I know Tuscaloosa can & will rebuild, but I don't know how a town of only 1,500 can do that. Or a town like Phil Campbell who's damage was just as bad and has a population of 1,000.

Hackleburg Aerial Damage

Hackleburg's baseball team continues on in the playoffs on Monday, May 2nd. The tornado that devastated the town also hit the school.

“We found our bag of (batting) helmets,” Hudson said. “That’s all we have left. All of our buses were destroyed.”

Hackleburg plans to continue in playoffs | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

If any of you guys can make it to the game in Cedar Bluff on Monday and show some support to these kids who have lost everything, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

 

[RedStar]

That's about like saying the person who lost everything in MS or GA yesterday didn't lose as much as the person in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham.

As a Mississippian, I know what you mean. However, it matters not if you lost everything due to surge, or if you lost everything due to levee failure. And for what it's worth, "they" didn't build their levees wrong. The United States Army Corps of Engineers did. The Army Corps of Engineers also built the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. It was a complete and utter failure, and the parishes near it, as well as the State of Louisiana have been screaming about it for years...knowing what would happen if a storm like Katrina came in just so. Well, it happened. Fortunately, the M.R.G.O is now closed, but I dare say it's a tad late.
-
I sustained a good bit of damage in Katrina, including interior damage to every room in my house, every bit of flooring, and most of the drywall...thanks to nearly every shingle being peeled off the roof. That said, I have an ex wife and two daughters that had 13' of water in their Lakeview house, thanks to the failed levees in NOLA..that my ex and my children didn't build or oversee. Thankfully they were north of I-20 when the storm came in. But I assure you, losing everything is losing everything. They spent several months in NC, where they arrived with the clothes on their back, the shoes on their feet, and one vehicle. No job to go back to, no school to go back to, they had to settle there for a while and make due. Eventually, they were able to get back down south, and they settled in MS just south of me. But without the help and hospitality of the great people of the south, and of this country as a whole, who knows what would've happened to them.

I know that same spirit of hospitality, charity, and helping those in need will also make it possible for these victims of the fury of nature to recover. I pray for those that lost loved ones, no matter the circumstance involved...no matter where they live...no matter who they root for on Saturdays in the fall.

I know what you mean, and I know what Alasippi means.

I think the thing that bothered me as a Mississippian was how little respect was paid to us at the time by the National media. The damage we sustained was incredibly bad, as bad as anything in New Orleans, who mostly experienced flooding.

We got so little respect that the news outlets couldn't even abbreviate our state correctly on news feeds or on TV. I saw Biloxi, MI a few times and even Biloxi, MX once. Really? MI is Michigan you neanderthals & MX isn't even close to anything that resembles a state abbreviation. I was so mad at the national media. I felt like our coast & that of Alabama's were largely ignored. I'm still bitter about it.

I don't mean to downplay what happened to New Orleans at all, but because they were a large metropolitan area, they got all the attention & many more volunteers.

 

[fralo4tide]

Do any of you know how a little town called Moundville faired in all of this? I know it's a bit south of Tuscaloosa, but I have some friends that live there which I'm concerned about.

 

[CajunCrimson]

Is there anyway to do a roll call for some of our tidefans family, so we can know they are ok?

Not sure if there is a way to do that.

My heart has been so heavy -- please let us know when they will let some of us come to help out with the cleanup......

 

[92tide]

Here are some aerials of Hackleburg, AL about halfway between the Shoals and Tuscaloosa. Complete devestation. I know Tuscaloosa can & will rebuild, but I don't know how a town of only 1,500 can do that. Or a town like Phil Campbell who's damage was just as bad and has a population of 1,000.

Hackleburg Aerial Damage

Hackleburg's baseball team continues on in the playoffs on Monday, May 2nd. The tornado that devastated the town also hit the school.



Hackleburg plans to continue in playoffs | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

If any of you guys can make it to the game in Cedar Bluff on Monday and show some support to these kids who have lost everything, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

growing up in that area, this is the part that is the most heart wrenching for me. these towns are small enough that you do literally know everyone.

 

[DiamondDust]

Do any of you know how a little town called Moundville faired in all of this? I know it's a bit south of Tuscaloosa, but I have some friends that live there which I'm concerned about.

Taylorville and Moundville, which are usually in the heart of tornado alley, didn't even get touched. I'm blessed because I live in that area, and it would have been worse than the 2000 December tornado that tore through these parts.

 

[Fishhead]

I know what you mean, and I know what Alasippi means.

I think the thing that bothered me as a Mississippian was how little respect was paid to us at the time by the National media. The damage we sustained was incredibly bad, as bad as anything in New Orleans, who mostly experienced flooding.

We got so little respect that the news outlets couldn't even abbreviate our state correctly on news feeds or on TV. I saw Biloxi, MI a few times and even Biloxi, MX once. Really? MI is Michigan you neanderthals & MX isn't even close to anything that resembles a state abbreviation. I was so mad at the national media. I felt like our coast & that of Alabama's were largely ignored. I'm still bitter about it.

I don't mean to downplay what happened to New Orleans at all, but because they were a large metropolitan area, they got all the attention & many more volunteers.

The bottom line is the bigger areas are gonna get more attention. It was a while before I even realized anything happened in GA the other night, and it turns out there were some small towns devestated there as well...key word small towns. TTown and BHam got the news coverage because they were larger populations, which means a higher number of casualties.

Also, SO true about lack of respect. But come on, have you ever heard The Weather Channel or the news media try to say some of those Louisiana "county" names? :biggrin:

I guess what prompted me to respond was "they built their levees wrong" comment as a direct reference to New Orleanians. Just wanted to point that out, because just like a lot of people nationally don't realize New Orleans caught the left side, a lot of people also don't realize who's responsible for the levee failure...obviously.

 

[Rama Jama]

The will be a new normal here in Tuscaloosa. New routes to work,new landscapes, New places to eat, and new routines. For those who don't know 15th street and McFarland Blvd is literally the heart of Tuscaloosa, There are large stretches of it severely damaged or just plain gone. This really puts life and sports into perspective.

I've seen areas of the city just absolutely decimated, neighborhoods that don't exist. It just makes you well up with tears when you see the places where there used to be houses, because you know there were people who lived there that lost either their homes or lives.


We will recover, but there will always be a sense of loss.

 

[DiamondDust]

I was in school at Bama when that happened and hoped I'd never see anything like it again.

I was too. I had come home for Christmas the day before. My mother was going to send me back to town because she thought I had left my clothes in Tuscaloosa. I had already put them up in my room. Needless to say, I wasn't going back.

 

[DiamondDust]

The will be a new normal here in Tuscaloosa. New routes to work,new landscapes, New places to eat, and new routines. For those who don't know 15th street and McFarland Blvd is literally the heart of Tuscaloosa, There are large stretches of it severely damaged or just plain gone. This really puts life and sports into perspective.

I've seen areas of the city just absolutely decimated, neighborhoods that don't exist. It just makes you well up with tears when you see the places where there used to be houses, because you know there were people who lived there that lost either their homes or lives.


We will recover, but there will always be a sense of loss.

You're right about 15th and McFarland. Outside of a direct hit on campus, I can't think of a more central/worse place in town for the tornado to hit. What also needs to be said is that Alberta City is absolutely destroyed. I've been hearing bad things about that place and east Tuscaloosa in general.

 

[crimsonkelly]

The will be a new normal here in Tuscaloosa. New routes to work,new landscapes, New places to eat, and new routines. For those who don't know 15th street and McFarland Blvd is literally the heart of Tuscaloosa, There are large stretches of it severely damaged or just plain gone. This really puts life and sports into perspective.

I've seen areas of the city just absolutely decimated, neighborhoods that don't exist. It just makes you well up with tears when you see the places where there used to be houses, because you know there were people who lived there that lost either their homes or lives.


We will recover, but there will always be a sense of loss.

I don't anywhere near Tuscaloosa, South Georgia actually, but have been there many times and usually stay in that area, you statement italicized is perfect. Even 300 miles away, I feel like I have lost something. Hurts to be honest.

 

[92tide]

You're right about 15th and McFarland. Outside of a direct hit on campus, I can't think of a more central/worse place in town for the tornado to hit. What also needs to be said is that Alberta City is absolutely destroyed. I've been hearing bad things about that place and east Tuscaloosa in general.

we lived in alberta city when i was really young and i went to first grade at alberta elementary and we attended alberta baptist. its just so sad to see all of these places i knew and played in growing up and in college gone. i still cant get my head around what the folks living there are going through.

 

[RedStar]

2 houses where some of our great friends lived on Forest Lake. They hid under their stairwells & all four of them made it out alive. It's an absolute miracle. The brunt of this storm hit so many people we knew & they all made it out alive and well.

 

[Vinny]

I tried calling friends of mine in Anniston and Gadsden on their cell phones. I was not able to get through and got this weird recorded message. Does anyone know if some cell towers on the eastern part of Alabama were taken out by the tornados?