HUGE tornadoes in Alabama, over 200 dead. You can help!
 

I'd appreciate any help this community can give, to my community down here. You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross, who are currently helping out the more damaged areas here.

Some of you may have already heard about this, in case you didn't, read this:

http://m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-frontpage/l...en&.tsrc=yahoo


So, Wednesday morning we had a lot of big storm warnings - most schools in our area got either a full day off because it was dangerous, or a two-hour delay. Our school, however, did not, so off we students went into the storm to get to school. About half an hour after first block started tornado sirens started going off, so they made us sit in the hallways for the rest of class; we then proceeded to go to second block, had a regular class, and then over the intercom we hear from Mr. Ward, the Fresh Prince of D-High: "Okay kids, so there are several tornadoes forming around the county, one of which is about twenty minutes away.. we will have lunch as scheduled and be dismissed at 1:30."

I guess that's how we roll at my school, there's a tornado on our doorstep so we eat lunch and watch it.

Then I spent the rest of the day with my jazz band class of about ten people, during which we and Stout chilled and joked about how we were all gonna die.

So then school let out. I went home to my dad's house, checked the weather, and saw that there were tornado warnings just about freakin everywhere. You see, my dad and I do not take crap from the weather; tornadoes and hurricanes and tropical storms don't scare us, so while my mom and two sisters were huddled in their closet, and probably everyone else in town too, we were sitting on our porch across town eating yogurt and discussing modern art.

At about 4:00 pm, Browns Ferry, the power plant Fan mentioned, shut down and the power in most of the upper half of Alabama also shut down as a result; it still hasn't been restored. Right now about a third of the population of Alabama is without electricity, according to the radio that's over a million people.

My dad and I HATE not having electricity, so we took off to go to Target because we didn't know that our entire half of the state was out and we needed food and other things (that's why we were out during the tornadoes. At this point we had no idea how severe the weather was). When we found the town silent and dark, we decided to go to the next town over, Hartselle, to find food; that was out too. So we drove to Cullman, also dead, then Gardendale, Warrior, Pelham, etc. until we ended up in Birmingham, the only city I know of in Alabama with electricity and where we currently are.

http://www.birminghamchurch.org/cms/...labama-map.jpg

During our little trip yesterday my dad and I were practically being followed by rogue tornadoes! We'd drive up to a town, say "this looks safe.." then suddenly the guy on the radio would go "OKAY EVERYONE, NEW TORNADO SPOTTED JUST OUTSIDE -town we were in invariably-, STAY OFF THE ROAD" and it would start raining.

So, after we discovered that there was power in Birmingham, we headed back to Decatur, packed up, and came back. We're currently staying in a hotel. My town wasn't one of the worse places hit, most of the damage was done in Tuscaloosa, some parts of Birmingham, and the surrounding area. Houses are just plain GONE, over 130 people are dead in this state alone and the death toll is still ongoing. Not to mention others are trapped in their houses with no gas or electricity and some are flooded.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/20...ms_alabama.jpg


http://www.wunderground.com/hurrican...ham_damage.jpg

These are both from about 20 hours ago:

http://videos.videopress.com/r0YzGYk...d.original.jpg

http://media.katu.com/images/110427_...a_tornado3.jpg

Everyone I know is scrambling to evacuate, most are going to Birmingham, Athens, Nashville, or beach houses/condos we all own in Florida. My family and I are safe, as are all my friends, but there are people out there who are dead, missing, or homeless and devastated.


Edit:

Aww, thank you so much but we're staying in hotels and possibly our beach house for the time being. :)

UPDATE:

http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/20...-damage-friday

The president is coming! I COULD MEET OBAMA YOU GUIZE

School is closed until further notice.

Wow :eek:

Over where I am, we have earthquakes. Don't need to chase those :p

Comme le vent
 

I am glad to hear you guys are okay! I live about a hundred miles southeast of you, so what you write is no surprise to us here. Some of our roads were blocked from fallen trees and power lines, but I don't know yet if any houses got clobbered. Many years ago, when I <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StormReady">learned</a> how cheap modern remotely-activated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOAA_Weather_Radio#Operations">severe weather</a> radio receivers</a> were, I got one.

I don't mean to pry, but why were you on the road instead of locked down in a safer place? In your photo album, you are pictured with a very young girl, whom I had supposed is your sister. Where was she when all this happened?

I have an extra house with heat, water and power where you guys could stay gratis for a while if your home is indisposed. But I warn you that it is full of junk and has not been used for quite some time.

It almost sounds like you have just experienced a real-life version of the video in the post I made at the start of the month titled Dorothy regaled!

In any case, I hope you have learned your lesson and will now make weekly courgette sacrifices to the Ouragan Goddess Alizée, instead of dissin' her, cf.<table align="center" cellspacing="20"><tr><td width="343" align="center">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/WYSIWYG200102FunTV.jpg">
<big><big><big>3 February 2001, <i>FunTV</i></big></big></big></td><td width="300" align="center"><a href="http://daniel-scott.deviantart.com/art/Coatrischie-184130879?q=gallery%3Adaniel-scott%2F7762690&qo=5"><img src="http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/300/f/a/coatrischie_by_daniel_scott-d31mkan.jpg" width="300" height="300"></a>Alizée manifested as <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=jEcpkWjYOZQC&lpg=PA78&ots=Ouu9dMJMz1&dq=% 22Hurricane%20Goddess%22%20Coatrischie&pg=PA131#v= onepage&q=Coatrischie&f=false">Coatrischie</a>, the Goddess of water, winds, and storms in the francophone Caribbean, home of Air France's <a href="https://w3.airfrance.com/NG/en/common/guidevoyageur/classeetconfort/classes_alize_new.htm">Alizé service</a></td></tr></table>P.S. I just read that they shut down the Browns Ferry nuclear facility in your backyard. I guess they were afraid you might be Turning Japanese...

Dayums

Tornadoes freak me out more than any other natural disaster... can't really explain why...

Stay safe, wimminz, because if you get hurt I'll have no choice but to kick all the tornado's asses which would be quite the monumental task.

Aside from that what the firetruck are you doing driving around in the middle of the day? Don't y'all still have school? and if that was canceled, shouldn't you be laying in a bathtub eating whoppers off the ground or something instead of driving around?

You people really got hit hard down there. We get a lot of tornadoes in Minnesota too, but I don't recall ever seeing anything that bad, or that many deaths. I'm glad to hear you are alright. :)

Blacked out
 

The most memorable power outage in my life came the autumn when I was ten and living in New York City: the Northeast Blackout of 1965. My family was not put in any peril, but when you are that young, a singular event like that, even of limited duration, makes quite an impression.

Because batteries are expensive and hard to transport in Africa, about two decades ago they developed a human-dynamo-powered radio for use there. At home I keep such a unit, which bundles in a flashlight as well, against future power outages. It uses modern high-efficiency long-life LEDs, minimizing the amount of cranking you need to do. A unit like that is also useful in one's automobile.

Offhand, if I was stuck in Birmingham, I might check out their monumental statue of Vulcan, which they claim is the world's largest cast iron statue. They also have a bunch of museums, including what they boast is the largest municipal art museum in the Southeast, the Birmingham Museum of Art. And if I was part of a jazz band, I'd also be inclined to check out the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. (You could hum Ella, elle l'a during your visit.)

Ahh, thank you Fan. I'll keep these in mind while we're here, I know my dad really likes the Vulcan statue but I've never seen it in person. :D

And thank you Lefty and others for your kind thoughts. It's a little scary being away from home and not having contact with my little sister and mother. I saw them this morning before my dad, other sister, stepmom, and I left town this morning and they're alright, but I'm not sure how they're faring with food and everything.

I also hear on facebook that there's a lot of looting going on back home. I hope nothing happens at our house.

As of tonight the death toll has reached 281 and there are still people missing.

Wow! Mother nature sure has been funky recently. I suspect that the magnitude of the storms is due to the shifts in the earth's angle. But who's to say I'm right. Hope all goes well for you, your family, and your friends. My thoughts are with you guys. Wish I could help you guys out. :)

gawrsh dangums i love you

First Antoine Dodson and now Obama... what sorcery is this... if you so happen to meet Samuel L. Jackson and/or Denzel Washington would you be so kind as to get an autograph from them for me; "To my homeslice jay-bee, stay black yo, - Samuel L. Jackson and/or Denzel Washington"

MAN oh man, Azhiri! You are very, very (too?) brave. Laughin in the face of danger like that. Is your whole family in the hotel? Or just you two stranded? Either way, this sounds pretty extreme. You brought your laptop along, or how are you keeping in touch here?



And jeez, the Red Cross is really overstressed now, for about the tenth year in a row. Thanks for asking for us to help them help you. I'm donating!