[boater bill]

I spent the morning checking on my friends in Tuscaloosa and B'ham.
All are ok, Thank God.
One friend in T-town lives 1 1/2 miles from the mall and has extensive damage to his home. I dared not ask about his 70 TA, GTO or 2+2's.
One guy south of Birmingham, his neighbors home was cut/crushed in half by an oak and about 20 homes in his subdivision are in similar shape.

Pretty scary. At least a hurricane has a couple of days warning.

[PonchoV8]

Agreed. A tornado is the one of the scariest, most sudden of natural disasters.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Doug,

Glad to see you're OK. I've got to check on a friend that lives in Ringgold,GA.

David,

Stay safe. The latest info is the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa and Birmingham had a track of nearly 100 miles. I lived through April 3,1974. That was one scary day!!

[Don 79 TA]

My wife said it was bad by us in Madison

she is ok, but out of electric for a while, no ETA either

I'm in MD for work, hoping to be able to fly out tomorrow

[Old Blue 66]

David, I'm glad you're safe. From what we hear up here, a couple of hundred people didn't make it.

They had a priest on the phone on a Chicago radio station from Tuscaloosa who did a very good job of describing the carnage. He reprted the major twister was a mile wide.

[takid455]

Looked at some pictures and while I didn't see it specifically, I would be that one if not 2 of the houses I lived at during my stay at U of A are no more. I was just off 15th street.

[GTOGreg]

Glad to hear you are ok David. I had some friends there in Pleasant Grove years ago (Guthries and Lasseters if the names ring bells).

[boater bill]

David, how are you doing?
If there is anything we can do from down here, let me know. You are in our prayers.

[thepontiacman]

We didn't get any damage here in Talladega AL, but lots of people nearby did.

This is a scary time of the year due to the weather.

Prayers go out to all the people that have damage ,injuries, or losses in their families.

I have friends in several parts of the state and some are without power/water.

Thanks to all who called or emailed to check on me.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Preston,

Glad to hear that you're alright!!

[GRUMPASTOY]

My son in tuscaloosa, missed his house by less than 1/2 mile, his complex was the only thing left standing on that road. Had a long night waiting to hear from him, thankfully he is fine.. pics are just heart-wrenching, our thoughts and prayers to all....

[Greg Reid]

David, you and Preston certainly were on my mind...along with my many relatives in the state from Birmingham to Jacksonville. Glad to hear you were spared once more.

I haven't really been nervous about our traditional Spring storm seasons for many years...I always figure that there's nothing to be done but ride them out...but that day was an exception for me.
First time that I can remember that I've actually stayed up most of the night following the progress of the storm. I worried as I saw the radar track the storms over two of my brother's homes and then my mother's home...Then, thankfully saw it track north as it crossed into Georgia.
I've never seen a line of storms like that. Usually, it's a single line over a broad front and calm behind that line. This was a sequential line storms over a fairly narrow front that pounded the same areas, one after another, after another. The other thing that was exceptional about these storms is that they didn't lose power. They maintained their strength. It was a long night
Here, we were spared all but some lightning and rain. Power didn't even go out at my house.
This 2011 storm season is definitely one to be remembered for many years. Seems every week, there's a storm.

[fyrffytr1]

David,
Glad to hear you're OK. We were very fortunate down here. The major stuff split and went north and south of us. I was on my way to work about 9 am and got caught in a hail storm for about 5 minutes. I thought my windshield was going to break and I just knew my truck would be damaged by the quarter sized hail but it escaped without a ding.
I can't imagine how Y'all felt going through this.

[400 4spd.]

I spoke with David's brother Jason yesterday afternoon.
Jason told me that all of their family members escaped damage and injuries. The employees and business were also spared. He said the amount of devastation is unreal.
David has been busy volunteering with his church helping the victims. Good man, David.
Let us know what supplies your church might need, maybe some of us can help.

[David Jones]

Just back at the office to play catch up. My city is hurt pretty badly. At this point you have to be a resident or a verified volunteer of some kind to even be allowed in. I think a conservative estimate would be 30-40% of the homes have been damaged or simply wiped off the Earth. Right through the heart of the city. My church is about 1/4 mile from ground zero and we have a gym and kitchen facility that has served 3 or 4 thousand meals a day and been a center for dispersal of disaster supplies. FEMA finally made it into town yesterday and they set up there also. The National Guard is set up across the street. It's a bit weird to see them wandering around with their weapons slung on their shoulders.
Pray for those in the path of the storms. Last number I heard was around 350 for total deaths during Wednesday's outbreak across the south. This was huge.........

[ho428]

When I called my friend in Cullman yesterday morning to check on him he was outside, as we were talking he went silent, he said in a shaky voice a flat bed just went by with a full load of cemetary vaults.

While he and his house was spared the city is pretty torn up, physically and mentally.

[The Boss]

Keep the faith David, glad you were spared!

[ctgross]

God's speed David. We were spared the brunt of those storms, but the ones the night before were very bad. Came close to losing a daughter. Prayers to all those folks.

[boater bill]

My church is sending a disaster relief team to Tuscaloosa on Sunday. They will be working with those that need help and I have asked that they stop by and see my friend whose house will be razed.
The team will be bringing chain saws, lumber and prayer warriers. If anyone here wants to help in the field or financially, send me a PM and I will get you the contact information. 100% of the monies allocated for the tornado will be directed to the relief efforts for the residents.

I am starting my last round of chemo today, otherwise my wife and I would be going. Waysider bisquits and Dreamland ribs sound pretty good right now.

Take care David and all of the others affected by this storm.

[David Jones]

Take care of yourself Bill. Asking God's blessing on your LAST treatment.

I took a brief tour of some of the Pleasant Grove video's on YouTube. Type in "Pleasant Grove tornado" for an idea of what's left.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fktsRsfoUfQ

This video, starting at about 1:25 minutes shows what the path of the tornado looks like. The area in question was full of homes on 1/4 acre lots and big shade trees. The lots are still there......The start of the video brings you up the road to our local food store "Hill's". It lost it's roof and there was a triage area set up in the parking lot the night of the storm. Daniel and I walked the road shown at the start of the video (after the storm) from about the area the film started up to Hill's. I took us 45 minutes of crossing/climbing over fallen trees to make the short distance.