As my in-laws live just east of Five Points, I'd appreciate any info you come across regarding the situation there. You can PM me if you want, or post it here. I'll do the same.
Devastating Tornado Damage in Tuscaloosa
- Thread starter jthomas666
- Start date
I've kept up with this thread, but I have felt like there just aren't words to express how I feel about the situation. We had extensive damage here in SE TN/North GA, but not quite the scale of what's going on down there. Thoughts and prayers to all affected by this tragedy. May God give you the strength to pull through...
if you're ever inclined to share any of the good and bad stories alike, I'd be all ears. Or eyes. Whatever.
Prayers to all those effected by this terrible tragedy, so sad..............
:BigA: ROLL TIDE :BigA:
:BigA: ROLL TIDE :BigA:
Just got a call - power has been restored at my in-laws and apparently Alabama Power is telling folks power will be restored to virtually all outages within seven days! Amazing, if true, but I'm relieved that at least some of the folks in the Tuscaloosa area are getting power back, as this means the water issues may be averted.
Three cheers for Alabama Power - so nice to have a little bit of good news!
Three cheers for Alabama Power - so nice to have a little bit of good news!
Parts of N AL may be without power for a week or more. TVA has 25 major transmission line towers down. Those don't go back up overnight. The other thing that will make this so hard from an electricity standpoint is that the damage is all across the state. Usually the different regions help each other out. So this time instead of crews from N AL, MS, TN and GA heading to help each other they all gave their own troubles so the help has to come from Iowa, TX, etc...
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Local high school here in Bryant, AR (just outside of LR) has started a drive to help those in need after these recent storms. Raised over $100 bucks today, and today was just Day 1! We've been there before, but we've always been the ones to be spared, and it just misses us. So, we know what the fear is like, but hopefully we never have to experience a situation like this.
Still praying for everyone missing to be returned home safely!
Still praying for everyone missing to be returned home safely!
Thoughts and prayers are with you all in Alabama tonight, especially those in Tuscaloosa county. Thank God my own family in the Holt area survived without harm, although they did have considerable damage. Thank you to all of those who are contributing to help in the clean up effort, God only knows how much I wish I could be there to help and support those going through this tragedy.
May we never forget the victims of April 27, 2011.
Roll Tide:frown:
May we never forget the victims of April 27, 2011.
Roll Tide:frown:
It would take about 1-2 crews to get one tower up in a day, thats a clean set too not clearing up a mess. If they have clearance hopefully they can fresh set and pull new wire in, instead of trying to get the lines back up as transmission lines you dont want kinks in the wire or cuts anywhere, especially the hire voltages. I've barehanded up to 230,000 volts and they want the wire CLEAN. If they get enough transmission crews there to help it might not take as long. Depends on the help and "where" the towers are located and whether you can get a truck there and then you need helicopters to assemble some towers.
As for overhead (your regular poles to your house) they can be 10x as quick as you can set a pole in 10 minutes if you are good enough. Not as big wire, nor voltage, and the only things that can hinder you is transformers (which you can quickly run out of) or regulators, capacitors, etc.
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.
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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.
Thank you, for posting this. On a personal note, my daughter who lives in Tut is in route to meet me now. Then bback home to Dallas. Prayers to everyone and stay strong!
I agree ^^^ My Daughter has the option to take her final grade as is; or take final at later date.
U
Thanks for the information the man I spoke with said they would be using helicopters so they're probably pulling new wire like you said. Hopefully that and the arrival of the crews from up north will speed it up. The biggest problem will be the terrain in that NE part if the state. some of those lines cross the TN river and then go straight up a bluff on the side of Sand Mtn. Hopefully none of those towers set in the water are down, I would think those could take a while. I was told 14 of the 25 are around Widows Creek power plant.
Thanks for the information the man I spoke with said they would be using helicopters so they're probably pulling new wire like you said. Hopefully that and the arrival of the crews from up north will speed it up. The biggest problem will be the terrain in that NE part if the state. some of those lines cross the TN river and then go straight up a bluff on the side of Sand Mtn. Hopefully none of those towers set in the water are down, I would think those could take a while. I was told 14 of the 25 are around Widows Creek power plant.
As some of you know I live here in Tuscaloosa. I was blessed not to have any damage to my house or office, but the rest of T- town was not so lucky. Words can't describe it. It is far and away the worst devastation I have ever seen. It kind of reminds me of the pictures of Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped. Places where nothing is left, but rubble. Please say a prayer for everyone who lost a loved one or house.
Bad thing near the river is ROCKS! On the mountain too. That will set them back some for sure. You have to jackhammer or blast the rock out in most cases. I've set poles in backyards in Mountain Brook so I've been there and done that, just not with transmission lines. The river crossing will take AWHILE for sure. You have to set it at certain heights for river traffic. Other places you can slide except Interstates, railroad crossings, and river crossings. Mountains you can slide as people are not normally on top of mountains goofing around.
Sorry if this has been posted. A friend just sent me this link of a helicopter following the Tornado's path through T-Town. This just breaks my heart.
You may have handed me a water so thank you. We did exactly what you did but the confusion was mind blowing. We had people we were specifically looking for and I was the only one in our group who knew where to go so we took off. We were helping students get driveable cars out from under trees and clearing the roads where we could. We tried to go further in but the troopers wouldn't allow us. They said the only places cleared were places they had finished house to house searches. We are still missing folks and the communications are very very spotty. I received ZERO calls and could not send anything out while down there. I found an elderly couple that are insulin dependent diabetics who have one vile left with no power. We will be going back tomorrow to check on them and the others still missing. Thanks for what you and yours did. And thanks to the many offering prayers. THey are needed. God Bless.
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