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

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.

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.

Hurricane Creek

One of the first people that we met when we got to Tuscaloosa who wasn’t affiliated with the city clean up was Russell.  He has his hands full with a much different, yet equally important project; clean up of Hurricane Creek.  He invited us out there for a beer and conversation after a day of hard labor so we could see another side of what the tornadoes destruction did to the area.  It is mind blowing to know that within minutes, this entire forest was gone. 

I also added a video provided by John Wathen who is leading this clean up and fighting to make sure this area stays as natural as possible. I have placed the link to John Wathen’s blog here so you can get to know a little more about him.  He has been influential in the Waterkeeper Alliance, assisted greatly with the BP Oil Spill, and is currently keeping track of the coal in Alabama with his blog.  He is definitely a man that has all of our interests, including our planets, in mind.

The pictures here are what I took while we were down in the area.  Even though majority of the trees have been knocked down, you can still see saplings and new plants coming through quickly.  Despite the wreckage, this area is still beautiful and is so monumental to Tuscaloosa’s history, as well as the history of the Appalachian Mountains. There are tons of volunteer opportunities to help out John and Russell.  If you want to get out into the woods for a little while and save a remarkable piece of land, check out the Hurricane Creek Keepers website.

Arriving Into Tuscaloosa

It has been a great first day of volunteering.  We were at the warehouse where the Salvation Army is taking in all of the donated goods from all over the country, sorting through them and then redistributing them. I even had the chance to drive the forklift.  I will have video up in the morning from that impactful day. 

 Later today, we went to our new friend Russell’s project in Hurricane Creek.  One of the places of destruction was this area called Hurricane Creek.  Is is this beautiful natural habitat outside of Tuscaloosa and has been almost completely wiped out of it’s tree population.  I have pictures and will share more about that tomorrow also.  As for now, I will leave you with these pictures from when we first arrived into town yesterday.  There is still so much work to do.  Take a moment to recognize what it is in your life that you’re thankful for.