Trudging through the streets of Tuscaloosa following the April 27 killer tornado, Billy Gray, the interim director of missions for Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association, expressed shock at the widespread and overwhelming destruction that has made thousands homeless, caused a massive power outage and left at least 38 confirmed dead.
Estimated to travel at wind speeds of up to 200 mph, the EF4 tornado that left a mile wide debris field in its wake, hit densely populated neighborhoods of Tuscaloosa, snaking around the University of Alabama, the DCH Regional Medical Center and a high school.
Entire communities were leveled, and at least half a dozen of the association’s more than 80 churches were heavily damaged.
People walked behind the police barricades, looking at the piles of timber that used to be the walls of someone’s living room. They stared at trees flashing their undersides, flipping up asphalt. They watched as workers stacked huge power poles — while they wait for more to arrive. They walked in the blazing hot sun and accepted a cool bottle of water.
Their eyes lit up momentarily.
“We talked to some of these people. They are OK, they seem to be OK,” Gray said. “They can laugh, but I know they are hurting.”
In Crescent Ridge, an area turned nearly to mulch by the twister, Gray said he spoke with a recently widowed woman who lives close to all of her family. And all of their homes had just been destroyed.
“They are OK as far as handling things, but in looking at the devastation, the lady said, ‘Every once in a while I just have to cry, but I don’t make a practice of it,’ Gray said. “I think that’s a good way to put it.”
Gray said he is appreciative for Alabama Baptist disaster relief chaplains on the ground in Tuscaloosa who are trained to assist in counseling those who are faced with loss and grief. And he is grateful for the volunteer team serving alongside the American Red Cross.
“I am extremely proud of our people,” Gray said. “I have been bombarded with calls from people wanting to help. It’s a wonderful thing to see.”
On the scene since April 28, J.D. Beck, disaster relief team leader for the Tuscaloosa Association disaster relief unit was overseeing feeding efforts at a shelter operated by the Red Cross at Beck Park.
At the 24-hour-shelter where an estimated 600 people have been staying since before the storm — Beck said the 13 Alabama volunteers were joined by two from the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention who were visiting when the storm hit — but had their gear packed and ready and so joined in.
One of the smallest units in the state, Beck said his volunteers, nonetheless, are equipped to feed up to about 2,000 at each meal. At the Tuscaloosa site, the volunteers are working alongside the American Red Cross workers to feed the 600 at the shelter and to supply an additional 250 meals to about six Emergency Response Vehicles used by the Red Cross to distribute the food.
Beck, who has been involved in disaster relief work since 1994, said he believes in caring for people, even if sometimes it’s behind the scenes work — “but you know it’s going out there some where.”
Standing tall beside a disaster relief trailer that holds cleaning supplies and cooking equipment, Beck stopped for a moment to work out some details with a Red Cross official about propane gas procurement.
“What Jesus said about the cup of water,” Beck said is what keeps him willing to volunteer his time and effort. “If you’ve done it unto the least of these, you’ve done it to me.”
At Hopewell Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, the tornado flipped a few shingles from the roof but otherwise bypassed the imposing brick buildings and instead tore into the neighborhood.
“Hot food and water” was advertised on a sign out front. Out back, some men from the church were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers to give to those who dropped by. Sandy Guy, director of women on mission, said the congregation is praying for those who are suffering.
“We are truly blessed and thankful,” Guy said, noting in the last three weeks, there have been three storms that have gone “around” the church.
Dropping off water and care packages to be distributed in the neighborhood, a team from Everglades Baptist Church, Jackson, said they wanted to help in the effort.
Only 16 blocks away, at Alberta Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, winds blew the steeple, roof and the front wall onto the steps — leaving mounds of insulation and splintered wood hanging from a huge opening in the ceiling of the church’s newly renovated sanctuary. The educational space was also heavily damaged, according to Gray.
Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, suffered extensive damage, Gray said, and he is unsure of whether the congregation will be able to continue to meet in its facility.
Left standing in an otherwise nearly flattened older neighborhood, Forest Lake Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, is being assessed for structural damage likely to have occurred when the church was lifted off it’s foundation, Gray said. The building is being used to store teacher supplies from the nearby elementary school that was destroyed. After members and volunteers shuttered broken windows and made other repairs, the church became a community center for food and supplies.
“We are trying to get more resources out to them,” Gray said of Forest Lake Baptist.
The sanctuary at Rosedale Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, has “quite a bit of damage,” Gray said, but the congregation may be able to meet in the fellowship hall for services. “That neighborhood is gone,” he said. “It is devastated.”
New Eastern Hills Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, sustained heavy damage with a large hole in the wall, roof damage and windows being blown out. They will meet elsewhere for awhile, Gray said.
A few families from Temple Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, lost their homes, Gray said, but the church received only mild damage. At rural Fleetwood Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, where some of the surrounding neighborhood was wiped out, Gray said one member was killed and 14 members lost their homes.
Gary Bonner, associate director for missions for Tuscaloosa Association, said he is happy churches are working together during the crisis and reaching in to their communities.
The need is extensive, he said, and the disaster relief effort needs to be ongoing.
“Not for a week or two weeks, and not even a month,” Bonner said. “We’ve never had a tornado of this velocity come right through the center of town. There is more loss of life than in the history of Tuscaloosa County.
“It’s going to take a long time. We really need to do everything we can to work together and be patient,” Bonner said. “We are [going to] do everything we can in the short term but be prepared to serve in the long term.”
Gray agreed. He said there is hope even for the people of Tuscaloosa.
“I would say to these people that God is with us through the bad times and as well as the good,” Gray said. “I think everybody — as bad as it is — we are going to make it though, and we are [going to] come back.”
Relying on God, having a good attitude and supplying people with resources will help in the long haul, Gray said.
“This has a way of rearranging your priorities,” Gray said, but people can look at it and say, ‘OK it’s bad, but we are [going to] make it.’”
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