TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
– Armando Sesena, his wife and daughter are now staying with family, but their
house is gone – swept away three minutes after they ran to their basement.
“Three minutes,” Sesena said. “We were in the basement three minutes then whoosh.”
He pointed to what might be part of a wall of his former home, but in a field
of spilled-out houses in Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
it’s hard for people with upturned lives to tell or care what’s theirs. An EF5
tornado churned up the town on its multi-state path April 27, making a long,
belabored cut through downtown Tuscaloosa.
Photo by John Swain. John Tilley from Westwood Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, reaches to chainsaw heavy broken branches of a hardwood threatening a roof in Tuscaloosa. As part of the Texas disaster recovery unit, Tilley and members of other Baptist units began work in parts of Alabama following on EF5 tornado that cut across the southeast April 27. |
The storm destroyed whole communities across parts of Mississippi, Alabama and
Georgia killing more than 300 people.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) crews rolled in the next day from
Alabama, then from nine other states, hearing stories of how looters created
fresh wounds in an already-wounded city.
But they also heard stories of people caring for one another.
As an SBDR chainsaw team from Texas cut away an oak that crushed her Birmingham
home, Tia Graham said she remembers her prayer of gratitude.
“We put a helmet on my granddaughter and hid in the laundry room. I’d heard of
tornados. They said you hear a freight train, but it was five times louder than
a freight train. We thought, ‘This is it,’” Graham said. “Then everything went
quiet and we realized we were still here. There was debris falling everywhere.
We prayed and thanked God we were alive.
“Everybody came and checked on us,” Graham said. “It was amazing how much people
cared.”
Tuscaloosa resident Gloria Reed broke down amid piles of pines stacked high by
a Texas SBDR chainsaw crew.
“I’m 72 years old, a widow, it was just terrible,” Reed said. “When a train
passes I jump. Even that little roar of jet sounds different.
“These people showed up. They were a gift from God,” Reed added, referring to
the SBDR team cutting down, cutting up and hauling trees to the street and away
from her house. “I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t shown up.”
To date, SBDR units have reported for the spring storms:
- 13,469 volunteer days
- 259,451 meals prepared
- 1,738 chainsaw jobs
- 17 mudout jobs
- 532 chaplaincy contacts
- 383 Gospel presentations
- 53 professions of faith
“It’s amazing what becomes unimportant and what people cling to when something
like this hits your life,” said North American Mission Board president Kevin
Ezell, who has visited sites in Alabama. “Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
volunteers provide a demonstration of God’s love and an opportunity for people
to embrace Him.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Adam Miller is a writer for the North American Mission Board.
Southern Baptists and others who want to donate to NAMB’s disaster relief fund
can go to www.namb.net and hit the “donate
now” button. Other ways to donate are to call 1-866-407-NAMB (6262) or mail
checks to NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Checks should be
designated for “Southern Storms 2011.” Donations can also be sent via texting “NAMBDR”
to the number “40579.” A one-time donation of $10 will be added to the caller’s
mobile phone bill or deducted from any prepaid balance.)
(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical
Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new
Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank
you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or
issues with items we run, please contact [email protected]
or call 919-847-2127.)