Birmingham Disaster Relief

After finals were done I packed up the truck and headed to Birmingham for the weekend for a visit with friends. While there I got to eat at a BBQ place I wish I had known existed while I lived in Birmingham and get caught up on everyone's lives. It was a great weekend, but it took an unexpected turn.

The state of Alabama, a place I called home for the past four years, was destroyed by tornadoes last Wednesday afternoon. Luckily, my friends in Tuscaloosa and in Birmingham are safe and suffered at most little damage to their property. Others in Tuscaloosa and in north Birmingham were not as lucky. As my friend and I returned from church we were both thinking the same thing. We decided to spend Monday working in disaster relief in north Birmingham through the Hands of Birmingham Ministries. We unloaded semis, trucks and cars full of supplies for those in Pratt City. Unloading took place at a local elementary school that was closed for business and had been turned into a distribution center.

I was amazed. Amazed at the organization. Amazed at the need. Amazed at the giving. There were no less than 1,000 cases of water, classrooms full of clothing (men's, women's, and children), toiletries, and a cafeteria so full of food you could barely move. Those, that from the looks of their own clothes and cars, were giving car and truckfuls all they had to give, showing me the true meaning of being the hands of Christ. All this stuff and more and more was coming. So many donations our distribution center had to load an 18-wheeler to take to other sites.  Everything, from dog food to plug-ins for cell phone chargers and wi-fi, was being given out.  As fast as we could unload any supplies they were given out to the families of Pratt City. It was a sight to see hundreds of volunteers coming together to help the thousands in need.

After our shift was over we decided to go and see some of the damage done to the area. I had seen some parts of Birmingham that were damaged by trees falling on houses, cars, and businesses. Nothing, including the hurricanes I have lived through in south Alabama, compared to the damage I saw in Pratt City. Where trees had fallen in south Birmingham, here, there were no trees. Houses were in ruins as far as we could see. Those houses that had "survived," if you can call it that, had their roofs, or complete stories blown away, no where to be seen. I would have taken pictures, but I felt as if I would have been disrespecting the families, and the pictures could never have told the entirety of the damage, just a snapshot of destruction.

Help in whatever capacity you can to those being affected by the storms. It is important to remember just because our nation's attention has been diverted to the recent developments in the War on Terror our neighbors next door are still suffering Moving on is a process will not be done in a few weeks or few months, but it will take these communities years to recover.