Closure
and Catastrophe
Today, the majority of America
continues to celebrate the elimination of the man who has, for nearly ten years,
been the face of terror to our nation. Not everyone in America, however, has the
same enduring sense of pleasure that comes from having just won a great
victory.
News that the warriors of Seal Team Six executed a precision attack on Osama Bin Laden's Pakistani compound, carried out their mission and withdrew (with Bin Laden's body) without an American injury made them proud. But throughout the South, hundreds of people mourn lost family members and friends while thousands of others work to pull their lives back together.
For them, the victory is sweet, but their reality doesn't make sustained celebration quite so simple.
Passing through Virginia last Thursday, I saw first-hand the massive destruction caused by the line of tornadoes that surpassed the toll taken by horrific storms on April 3-4, 1974. It was both eye-opening and memory jogging.
I spent several sleepless days helping in that cleanup in 1974, but it seems the impact of the horrific things I saw during that rescue/cleanup mission had faded over time.
Now, after having revisited the area and spoken with exhausted rescue, relief and cleanup workers from last week's storm, very distinct images and impressions have been made out of today's rubble.
Srvivors picking through the remains of their homes brought back memories of college friends who had packed their belongings into their cars before leaving to help with the rescue work-just in case. Several returned to discover that, had they not packed their cars, they, too, would be destitute like their now-homeless neighbors.
Instead, they were only homeless.
In the Crescent Ridge area of Tuscaloosa, one of the hardest hit areas, the Alabama National Guard, Red Cross, and a coalition of area churches are all working. Word from there is that "Crescent Ridge is almost unrecognizable. Houses are leveled, trailers are torn to pieces and personal belongings are scattered among uprooted trees."
The story line is the same wherever the bands of killer tornadoes touched down. Lives were lost amidst the tangled heaps of wreckage that only minutes before had been homes full of families. They died simply because they were unfortunate enough to be in the paths of the storms. It wasn't terrorism; but the survivors now know terror first hand.
The Tactical Wire's Tiger McKee and his wife Gretchen came through the storms safely, but he sent us a quick -and sobering - update from his home outside Guntersville, Alabama.
"Damage from storms in our area is very severe," he wrote, "...don't know when we'll get power or phones, some communities are completely gone, and they are still searching for missing people.There is martial law, curfews, and looting. If you try to reach us, it will be difficult. Phone contact is out; you can email us, but it may be several days before we can get to somewhere to answer emails."
McKee's message echoed a sentiment I heard yesterday from a now-homeless victim in Virginia: "the strange thing is that the news isn't reporting how bad it really is. Please pray for us and the surrounding areas."
And amid the confusion, dislocation and damage, some groups are working extremely hard to help without realizing they're also dispelling some stereotypes. In Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, fraternities and sororities are pitching in to help -in a big way.
The Delta Kappa Epison (DKE) fraternity house has been turned into the command center for the UA Greek Relief Effort. Rather than work as independent units, "the greeks" pooled their resources.
At first, the efforts were limited to cleaning out fraternity house fridges and freezers before they shut down for the summer. Initially, the thought they would serve a total of 300-400 meals before the program closed down for the summer.
News of the movement spread and relief supplies started showing up from individuals and companies who heard about their work.
At last count, the group had already cooked and delivered meals numbering in the thousands, along with clothes, baby formula, diapers, cleaning supplies, water and more. All with their own cars, gasoline and labor. There are routinely 16 hour work days and none of the usual jocularity that accompanies virtually any collegiate project.
My source on this story is justifiably proud of the efforts of these "kids" -and he admits they're no longer kids because "they've earned the right to be considered young adults."
And they've done it with organizational skills, indefatigable energy and an expressed willingness to stay on as long as they're needed -even after school's over.
"They've become the go-to group for relief agencies," I was told, "Relief agencies know about UA Greek Relief and call on the students for help. They keep delivering the goods to the areas which need it the most, and have organized in-processing and outflow of supplies, use walkie-talkies to keep in touch, and everyone has an assigned task."
But even these young adults (I won't call them kids anymore) can't self-sustain indefinitely.
They, like all the groups working in tornado relief across the region, need support from the rest of us. Being the technologically savvy group they are, there's a twitter feed (@UA Greek_Relief) for updates and a website should soon be running to will accept donations electronically. In the interim, the address for contributions is Delta Kappa Epsilon Tornado Relief, 946 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401.
I was contacted by David Robinson of Hunt Comfort to help get the word out about the efforts in Tuscaloosa, and I'm honored to be able to tell you about their work.
As Robinson wrote, "please send this along, so everyone can see what big things our future leaders are capable of." I'm honored to do so.
As this story of tragedy and recovery continues to unfold - as always - we'll keep you posted.
--Jim Shepherd
News that the warriors of Seal Team Six executed a precision attack on Osama Bin Laden's Pakistani compound, carried out their mission and withdrew (with Bin Laden's body) without an American injury made them proud. But throughout the South, hundreds of people mourn lost family members and friends while thousands of others work to pull their lives back together.
While cleanup efforts
continue, not much can ease the profound sense of sadness across the South. Jim
Shepherd photo |
For them, the victory is sweet, but their reality doesn't make sustained celebration quite so simple.
Passing through Virginia last Thursday, I saw first-hand the massive destruction caused by the line of tornadoes that surpassed the toll taken by horrific storms on April 3-4, 1974. It was both eye-opening and memory jogging.
I spent several sleepless days helping in that cleanup in 1974, but it seems the impact of the horrific things I saw during that rescue/cleanup mission had faded over time.
Now, after having revisited the area and spoken with exhausted rescue, relief and cleanup workers from last week's storm, very distinct images and impressions have been made out of today's rubble.
Srvivors picking through the remains of their homes brought back memories of college friends who had packed their belongings into their cars before leaving to help with the rescue work-just in case. Several returned to discover that, had they not packed their cars, they, too, would be destitute like their now-homeless neighbors.
Instead, they were only homeless.
Spc. Robert Boettner, 31st
Chemical Brigade, Northport, Alabama, carries a child's bike from the rubble in
the Crescent Ridge area in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Many families lost everything during
the tornado and little discoveries like this bike that still works helps them to
hold on to hope. Spc. Katherine Dowd photo via dvids.
|
In the Crescent Ridge area of Tuscaloosa, one of the hardest hit areas, the Alabama National Guard, Red Cross, and a coalition of area churches are all working. Word from there is that "Crescent Ridge is almost unrecognizable. Houses are leveled, trailers are torn to pieces and personal belongings are scattered among uprooted trees."
The story line is the same wherever the bands of killer tornadoes touched down. Lives were lost amidst the tangled heaps of wreckage that only minutes before had been homes full of families. They died simply because they were unfortunate enough to be in the paths of the storms. It wasn't terrorism; but the survivors now know terror first hand.
The Tactical Wire's Tiger McKee and his wife Gretchen came through the storms safely, but he sent us a quick -and sobering - update from his home outside Guntersville, Alabama.
"Damage from storms in our area is very severe," he wrote, "...don't know when we'll get power or phones, some communities are completely gone, and they are still searching for missing people.There is martial law, curfews, and looting. If you try to reach us, it will be difficult. Phone contact is out; you can email us, but it may be several days before we can get to somewhere to answer emails."
McKee's message echoed a sentiment I heard yesterday from a now-homeless victim in Virginia: "the strange thing is that the news isn't reporting how bad it really is. Please pray for us and the surrounding areas."
And amid the confusion, dislocation and damage, some groups are working extremely hard to help without realizing they're also dispelling some stereotypes. In Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, fraternities and sororities are pitching in to help -in a big way.
The Delta Kappa Epison (DKE) fraternity house has been turned into the command center for the UA Greek Relief Effort. Rather than work as independent units, "the greeks" pooled their resources.
At first, the efforts were limited to cleaning out fraternity house fridges and freezers before they shut down for the summer. Initially, the thought they would serve a total of 300-400 meals before the program closed down for the summer.
News of the movement spread and relief supplies started showing up from individuals and companies who heard about their work.
At last count, the group had already cooked and delivered meals numbering in the thousands, along with clothes, baby formula, diapers, cleaning supplies, water and more. All with their own cars, gasoline and labor. There are routinely 16 hour work days and none of the usual jocularity that accompanies virtually any collegiate project.
My source on this story is justifiably proud of the efforts of these "kids" -and he admits they're no longer kids because "they've earned the right to be considered young adults."
And they've done it with organizational skills, indefatigable energy and an expressed willingness to stay on as long as they're needed -even after school's over.
"They've become the go-to group for relief agencies," I was told, "Relief agencies know about UA Greek Relief and call on the students for help. They keep delivering the goods to the areas which need it the most, and have organized in-processing and outflow of supplies, use walkie-talkies to keep in touch, and everyone has an assigned task."
But even these young adults (I won't call them kids anymore) can't self-sustain indefinitely.
They, like all the groups working in tornado relief across the region, need support from the rest of us. Being the technologically savvy group they are, there's a twitter feed (@UA Greek_Relief) for updates and a website should soon be running to will accept donations electronically. In the interim, the address for contributions is Delta Kappa Epsilon Tornado Relief, 946 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401.
I was contacted by David Robinson of Hunt Comfort to help get the word out about the efforts in Tuscaloosa, and I'm honored to be able to tell you about their work.
As Robinson wrote, "please send this along, so everyone can see what big things our future leaders are capable of." I'm honored to do so.
As this story of tragedy and recovery continues to unfold - as always - we'll keep you posted.
--Jim Shepherd











