Tornado Recovery Continues

Limestone County, Alabama

Storm Recovery

A week ago today one of the worst tornadoes in history passed through Alabama and several bordering states. Multiple tornadoes touched down with EF4 and EF5 force quickly destroying large areas of land. In total, the storm took the lives of over three hundred people. Two hundred and fifty of those killed were from Alabama. Forty one of Alabama's sixty seven counties have been declared a national disaster area. There is much work to do! The photos above were taken yesterday in Limestone County. I pass through this neighborhood every day on my way to work. As you can see, many homes were completely destroyed. While power has now been restored to Limestone County, surrounding counties, such as Madison and Lawrence, remain without power in some areas.

If you live outside the state of Alabama and are interested in being a part of the recovery effort, you can make a monetary donation to the American Red Cross. If you live near the affected areas and would like to volunteer, you should register with the Emergency Management Agency(EMA), and they will assigned you a task. The number to call to contact EMA is 211. They do not need clothing donations, however the Salvation Army and local churches are accepting clothing donations and furniture donations for storm victims. It is my understanding at this time that the Harvest area of Madison/Limestone Counties needs volunteers to clear up debris and that some of the poorer areas of Lawrence county are also lagging behind in volunteer manpower.

If you already receive food stamps from the State of Alabama, you can use your EBT card to purchase hot, already prepared food through the end of the month. If you have not previously received food assistance, FEMA will be setting up locations through out the state for persons to register for emergency food assistance. Watch your local news for more information about the FEMA contact location in your county.