Tag: Tornado relief

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Monday Spotlight: Tornado Relief

Last week, in the matter of just a few days we experienced as many tornadoes as we sometimes see in an entire year.   This takes a lot of help and organization to clean up and so I wanted to set this Monday toward getting some of this information out there.  In the next few days I will set up a full-page here on Project Kinect for all this information by location with detailed information but for right now, this is what I can get out there. As said in today’s Washington Post, FEMA is just getting prepared to provide tornado relief so maybe this can begin as a conversation with everyone on how to expedite this procedure and not see what we saw in Tuscaloosa, Alabama last spring.  In this, I am including the states involved with the majority of the devastation last week.   

Region 4 out of Atlanta: Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee

Telephone Numbers:
Main Number: 770.220.5200
Fax Number: 770.220.5230

Mailing Address:
Federal Emergency Management Agency
3003 Chamblee Tucker Road
Atlanta, GA 30341

Media Inquiries: 770.220.5226

Region 5 out of Chicago:  Illinois, Ohio, Indiana

Mailing Address                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         536 South Clark St., 6th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 408-5500

Media Contact

Mark Peterson
Email:  mark.peterson2@dhs.gov
Telephone:  312-408-4469

  • As far as right now, I have only seen one facebook page for any of the cities but here is one for Northern Alabama

 

 

  • If you’re a college student and you want to do something impactful on your spring break, here are some ways to volunteer.

*Relief Spark: By far what I think is the most incredible disaster relief organization I have seen.  Many people find volunteer opportunities with a church but if you are without a church, Relief Spark is a great place to share your gifts.  They are already setting up camps throughout the south and midwest.  Check out their facebook page.

*Disaster Assistance with the Church of Christ: We worked with Mike and his kitchen on wheels in Tuscaloosa.  They have plenty of work to do and you definitely get to see your impact when working with them.  They just arrived in Southern Indiana today. 

This is just a start but if people are coming up with questions on what to do now that things are destroyed or if people want to help , then here are some beginning points.  Like previously mentioned, I will have a much larger working page later this week.  If you have any information that you would like to contribute to it, please email me at gregg@projectkinect.com.  If you need extra help and need assistance otherwise on finding answers that have not been answered yet, i.e. free medical assistance, legal aid, water safety, paperwork help or anything else not listed, then also email me at gregg@projectkinect.com and I will make phone calls, research and help find those answers. 

WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!!!

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Education Down at Hurricane Creek

I’ve done a lot on featuring the Hurricane Creek area, but I can’t help to reiterate the importance of this area and areas just like this that are all over the country.  We need to preserve them and share them and in all of this enjoyment, there must also be education.  We have to educate ourselves and the people around us about what it means to have these natural spaces, the importance of keeping them, and how to still enjoy these areas without damaging them.  It is all of our responsibility to take care of the space that we all inhabit. WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!!!

If you would like to volunteer at Hurricane Creek, please email Russell at restoration@hurricane-creek.org

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Recalling the First Look in Tuscaloosa

When we first arrived into Tuscaloosa, we went to the first place we saw tornado damage and looked around.  The first place we looked was an area in South West Tuscaloosa that was pretty much demolished.  For a reminder, here are some of those pictures….

 

 

 

I kept up with this area because I wanted to really take inventory of how much was getting cleaned up and what was the process of clean up.  In neighborhoods like this, it was what they were calling a “clean sweep” where they just tore it down and then would decide what to do with the area afterward. Here are pictures showing the same views, but three weeks after we arrived.  Take notice that the Teddy Bear is still in the exact same spot. 

 

 

 

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Relaxing in Hurricane Creek

This is after a day in Hurricane Creek cleaning out trees.

After cleaning out Hurricane Creek, we then went with Russell and D.D. with a packed lunch to enjoy a part of the creek up stream that wasn’t torn up from the tornado.  Here is a reminder of what that part of the creek looks like now…

This is what Hurricane Creek looks like after the tornado

 

And here are pictures from a public park to show what the creek looked like before the storms came through.

This is taken in the middle of the creek. Natural beauty everywhere.
Just another hang out spot in the creek. The history in this meeting place from the past is overwhelming. It is amazing to think of how many people over that centuries have been in this spot.
The history in this meeting place from the past is overwhelming. It is amazing to think of how many people over that centuries have been in this spot.
Entrance to Hurricane Creek park
All clean enjoying the lunch and the creek
This is a picture from the cliffs above looking down onto the park and the creek.
We went to a deeper area of the park that Russell knew about. It forced us to really take in our surroundings.
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The Lot

One of the volunteer opportunities that we felt a connection with while we were in Tuscaloosa was helping out with the lunch services and the distribution center at the Church of Christ in Forest Lake.  Despite the church being taken out of commission by the tornado, the church was able to use its resources and get a tent up to get people the house hold necessities required to keep moving forward with their lives as well as a mobile home that was built with a large kitchen in order to assist in disaster relief. Through this kitchen, we served residence and volunteers breakfast and lunches so we knew that people were getting fed.  In our span of assisting the church with their efforts, we served about 8,000 lunches.  

The main reason we kept going back to this particular spot to volunteer was because of the people that were helping out and it was the best possible way to get a one-on-one with the residence to hear what they truly needed.  Those are the moments that we heard the stories that aren’t told in the “success stories” that tell us that Tuscaloosa is alright.  These are the bold reminders that the residence need much more help still and that this can happen anywhere in our large community called the United States.

The other volunteers that we met while we were on the lot were from all over.  Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Texas, Florida, Georgia and so many other states.  The two men running the show were Mike and D.D.  D.D. became our friend instantly and ventured out with us every time we went out to explore Tuscaloosa.  Mike was the director of this particular motor home from the Church of Christ disaster assistance.  If you are interested to find out where he is headed next, you can email him at disasterassistance@gmail.com to get on his email list.

We also had a great chance to meet some of the congregation from the church.  Joe, Debbie and Claudia were our three continuous favorites and now that Alyssa will be down there for a while with her new job, she will be in contact with them.

These pictures are a montage of the people and work we were doing while volunteering at the lot.  This opportunity had such an enormous impact in our journey and we are so thankful for everyone we met while we were there.

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An Update From the Disaster Assistance Program

One of the organizations that we repeatedly helped out was the Church of Christ in the Forest Lake community.  It was a great place that we could really connect one-on-one with the residence by feeding them and getting them some essentials for the home.  I will be sharing pictures and stories from the lot later but right now, I just wanted to share the email from Mike.  If you are available to help in Tuscaloosa or Minot, please feel free to email him.

Hi Everyone
Flooding in Minot, ND. I have talked with the North Dakota Emergency Mgmt, ND Red Cross, members and the preacher
at the Minot Church of Christ. The water has just started to go down. They are accessing the needs and will let
me know how or if they want to be involved.
Below is the recap of work that has been done here in Tuscaloosa so far.
 –40,950 Meals Served
 
-Over 690 families helped with cleanup(chainsaw and other work)
 
-Many Many loads of other food, water and supplies handed out.
 
-Church building is completely torn down and hauled away in trucks.
 
-We have volunteers scheduled to work here in Tuscaloosa thru the end of July.
 
-Lots of new updates on the blog(link to blog from web site) www.disasterassistancecoc.com
 
-Sense next week is a short work week for volunteers I will not send out an update, but will post
it on the blog.
Please pass this information on to everyone on your email and Facebook list , take it to your church and business, you never know who might be willing to help us. Please pray for the thousands of people whose lives have been forever changed and for us as we show the love of the Lord to them by just providing a simple meal.
You can donate online at www.disasterassistancecoc.com or make check payable to and
mail to:
Disaster Assistance
402 Center Way
Lake Jackson, Tx 77566
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Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that is helping out communities all over the world by assisting in housing for families that are in need of it.  While in Tuscaloosa, we kept looking for their presence and wasn’t really sure why there wasn’t more of an impression by Habitat in the city.  Well, due to the ninety day construction hold on the city, they were compiling all of their resources to assist in getting over a hundred homes up and running.  We found out this when we stopped by the Habitat ReStore that has been selling used and close to new building and furnishing items to help with endeavor of getting these houses up and running.

If you are unfamiliar with what a ReStore is, it is a store that local Habitat for Humanity offices have to raise money that will stay in that local area to help with those resources needed to get the new houses out to the families that need them.

If you are looking to contact the Habitat for Humanity resale store in Tuscaloosa and help them with their lofty endeavor, you can email them at restore@habitattuscaloosa.org and here is the website for the Tuscaloosa Habitat for Humanity.

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National Geographic Audition

I realize that I will probably work for National Geographic as a photographer or camera man but today I got the chance to hang out with everyone at the Hurricane Creek clean up.  The main focus right now of Hurricane Creek is to get all of the trees that are down from the tornado out of the creek.  So, Tony, with his crew and chainsaw was able to get about twelve trees out of the creek today. That video will be coming in a couple days but for right now, I’ll show you this little clip of me in my glory. 
 If you want a refresher on Hurricane Creek, it was the first place we saw outside of the city after we met our new friend Russell.  Remember Russell?  Well he asked us to come help him out and so we did.  Here is the article from our initial trip to Hurricane Creek.

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Tornado Path Through Tuscaloosa

In the time that we’ve been here, we have noticed a lot of gaps where residence still need help whether it is with supplies, finances, getting workers to haul away their house or someone just to sit down with them and help explain to them all of their options.  The government is not involved at all here, the Red Cross is gone and now FEMA is beginning to close up offices.  The residence of Tuscaloosa still need so much help and the help that they are getting is becoming exhausted.  This video is a reminder that at this period of our societies history, we are all headed in the same direction.  WE ARE ALL INVOLVED

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A Look at Forest Lake

This week we have been helping out at the Central Church of Christ in Forest Lake.  This entire neighborhood has been decimated into rubble.  Many houses have been able to get through the storms with minimal damage, but for the majority, they were left with a pile of trash that has formed around the cores of their houses.   Some of these people will never return to their homes.  Others have had to struggle with the pain and agony of demolishing their own house because they were unable to receive assistance from anyone.  He fortunately was able to drudge up the money to pay for that but so many others don’t have those resources.  These next few pictures are taking you through some of the houses and their stories in this community.

 

In this home, a mother and her five month baby lived.  It was her parents home.  She heard the tornado coming and went into the basement to ride out the storm.  When she felt it was safe to come out from hiding, she climbed up the stairs and to her surprise, her entire home was gone.  With the exception of a kitchen wall, a baby crib a couple more walls and her parents piano, the house was no longer defined as a livable space.  Can you imagine coming up ten minutes later and seeing your entire house gone?

This house is owned by an elderly couple.  That red on their window says that the house is no longer safe to live in.  Why you ask?  Well the roof has disappeared.  If you were to walk around the building, you would see that a tree has come down into their second and first story bathrooms. They husband was trying to get him and his wife to the bathroom when the storm hit.  Fortunately for them, her bad hips, and weakness due to chemotherapy made it so they were not able to get there.

They both have been stopping by, saying hello in great spirits and having a lunch.  They have been trying to get as much as they can out of the house on a one hour trip each day. It is just too hot to get any more than that.

I’m not completely sure of the entire story about this house, but I do know that the people living here were out of town and when they got back, they just turned around.  Can you imagine getting to your house after being on vacation and only have a standing fireplace?  Thankfully though, they were away from the house.

The family that lives here is staying with family in Birmingham.  When the father found out that his insurance wouldn’t cover the destruction of his house and the cost of taking it all away so that a contractor could look at the property, he rented th machinery and tore the rest of the house down himself.  He had his wife and family stay in Birmingham while he did this extremely emotional task.  What if you had to take a bulldozer to your family home?  Would you be able to?  My other question is did he hav that extra money available for these added costs? 

Directly across the street where we are doing food service from out of a motor home, this house stands there, bare naked to the world.  The story of this house is the meaning of life and how we all can be gone at any time.  While you look at the picture, take in the couch, and the wall that is laying on the couch.  You can see the stairs and then as you look right, you see a door.  That is this man’s kitchen.  To the right of that, is a coat closet and that is where this man sat through the storm; that two foot by four-foot space. 

 

There are stories and stories like this:  The people survived the tornadoes that came through here.    There are also stories about Joplin, the floods of Memphis and the Mississippi River, currently the Missouri River and the wild fires in Arizona but what happens after?  It is nearly two months after the tornadoes and so many people still need so much.  The Red Cross has left, the Salvation Distribution center is shutting down next week and FEMA is beginning to shut down offices but so much is still needed.  Is this happening at every disaster area?  I have to think that it is and does but while we are here, we will find out how help can still be given and what needs to be done to get that help.  This is what we will work on while we are still here in Tuscaloosa. 

 

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