Torimom, in Alabama

I would have posted this early this morning, if Bin Ladin hadn't been killed..

A lot of people throughout the South are homeless, hungry and hurting after the worst tornado outbreak in living memory...  Once, just once I saw the damage a massive tornado does when it decides to pick on a populated area.. If you've never seen it, you can't imagine it,  you don't want to try.

Homes in the McCulley Mill Rd. area are completely destroyed following a large tornado
that cut a path through Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone Counties. Kevin Harrison and
his wife Sara Beth hold their children, Mason and Sophie as they emerge from a safe room,
the only thing that survived of their house. (Photo by Gary Cosby Jr., Decatur Daily)

Torimom is a Grumpy Reader, and a friend from USAT, she lives in Alabama, yesterday she sent out this message..

Alabama Storm Damage

Hey everyone, I'm finally back online. Just thankful to be alive.


We didn't get any storm damage in our town, they went all around us, but we were without power for 2 days, and parts of my town still don't have power. The TVA transmission lines were damaged, and they supply most of the power to North Alabama. At one time, there were 600,000 people without power. Huntsville and Madison isn't supposed to get power back until Wednesday at the earliest, and that's what we had been originally told to expect. Very hard to find gas and food over there. My cellphone finally started working again yesterday and I tried to get my brother and his wife to come over here and stay, but they won't leave their house. I went over there yesterday to take them some food and gas. Going to find out what our church is doing at Mass this morning, and then we're going to go help these people out.

It's bad down here, really bad. A lot of people have lost everything they owned. Entire families have been killed. Most of North Alabama still doesn't have power. However, everyone has really pulled together to help each other out. Law enforcement, first responders/rescue, the Governor, our Congressmen, our local governments, the churches, the radio and TV stations, and our citizens have done an outstanding job. FEMA is here. The AL National Guard has been deployed. Most places have dusk to dawn curfews in place. Looting has been minimal, and people have been extremely patient. Obama made a pit stop in Tuscaloosa on his way down to the Cape.

For complete coverage of the storm damage, and ways you can help, go to www.al.com/huntsville.

Thank you, and God bless.

Torimom

Aerial of the Carters Gin Subdivision in Toney, Al. (The Huntsville Times/ Michael Mercier)

At my request she sent me some pictures, the ones posted here on this blog,. this note came with them..

Thank you so much for offering to post some pictures of the storm damage on your blog, as well as information on how people can help us out. I have several sources of info regarding donations and volunteer opportunities, and I'll get them broken down in a short list and send it to you in a separate email.


These are pictures of storm damage from Limestone County, just to the north of where I live. There are hundreds of pictures like these, from surrounding counties. The towns of Phil Campbell, Hackleburg, and Mount Hope were pretty much wiped off the map.

Many stories of people dying while protecting their children and grandchildren. It's heartbreaking. But it's also been a wonderful testament to how people pull together in difficult times. The response to help these people that have lost everything has been overwhelming.
 
Following is a short list of organizations that are helping with the recovery of storm victims in Alabama. The comprehensive list is literally pages long. I've provided links and/or phone numbers as much as I could. I'm also going to send this out in a separate email, because I had several people on USAT ask me where they could donate or volunteer.


Again, I really appreciate you offering to post this info on your blog. I owe ya bigtime
 :-)

Sincerely,

Torimom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donate to the Red Cross. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation (after you send the text, you will receive a reply asking if you would like to specify your gift for tornado relief). Website also accepting donations at www.redcross.org .

Support the Salvation Army. Call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or text “GIVE” to 80888 to make a $10 donation. Designate "April 2011 Tornado Outbreak." Website also accepting donations at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ .

Give to the Governor’s Tornado Relief Fund. People who want to volunteer time or make donations may contact the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by phone at 877-273-5018, or online at http://www.servealabama.gov/.

Donate to the United Way of West Alabama - http://www.uwwa.org/

Support the United Way of Central Alabama - http://www.uwca.org/

Give to the University of Alabama Acts of Kindness Fund - www.ua.edu/tornadorelief

Toomer's for Tuscaloosa (Auburn University) is collecting donations for Tuscaloosa tornado victims through the Five Points Baptist Church in Northport. The website for donations is www.fivepointsbaptist.com/tornado . See background story at

www.theplainsman.com/view/full_story/13065913/article-Auburn-organization-leads-relief-efforts?instance=home_news_lead_story

Give to Samaritan's Purse - http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Give to the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions - www.alsbom.org/tornadorelief

Give to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) -
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor

Donate to the Birmingham Jewish Federation Tornado Relief Fund - http://www.jewishbroward.org/

Support Catholic Charities USA - http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/

Give to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Relief Fund - http://www.alabamacbf.org/

Support the Presbyterian Relief Fund - http://gamc.pcusa.org/give/DR000148

Give blood through Life South or the Red Cross - see www.redcross.org for locations near you.

** If anyone would like to come to Alabama and volunteer in person, please contact the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by phone at 877-273-5018, or online at www.servealabama.gov . They are doing an excellent job of coordinating volunteers and getting them to affected areas. You don't need any sort of special skill set ... if you can cook, clean, organize, pick up trash, or if you have a shoulder to cry on, or you give great hugs, those are all things that are desperately needed here.

** We also have many pets that have been injured and/or lost their owners. Many others have been placed in shelters because their owners are staying in shelters. You can contact the Greater Birmingham Humane Society at www.gbhs.org if you would like to donate money or supplies. They are taking in animals from the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter. If you would like to foster a pet, send an email to tornadopetsofAL@yahoo.com with the subject line "Will Foster."


And if anyone has a really big erector set, looks like the Power Company could use it.

The large power transfer towers carrying transmission lines from Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant near Athens, Ala., are disfigured April 28, 2011. The towers suffered heavy damage
in the path of Wednesday's tornado that swept through Limestone County. (Photo by Gary
Crosby, Jr., Decatur Daily)