One In Jesus

The Christian Chronicle just posted a report on the Bethel Church of Christ in Athens, Alabama that was also destroyed by tornado Wednesday night.

Now that I have power and Internet service, I’m able to catch up on the media information.

* Here a link to an excellent graphic showing the path of the tornado through Tuscaloosa, with photos illustrating damage at marked points along the way.

* This link will take you to a map of all the locations in Alabama where tornados hit.

* This link takes you to aerial photos of Tuscaloosa and Pleasant Grove very cleverly showing the damage on a before and after basis.

* Here’s a map of the tracks of the tornados on Wednesday from the National Weather Service —

* And here’s an impressive map showing the radar image as the tornado cut across the Southeast, put together by Fox Channel 6, out of Birmingham — Continue reading →

Retired Coach Gene Stallings cooking for relief workers

How to Volunteer

There’s plenty of work to do, and there will be for a very long time. However, there are no available hotels. Even police from out of town are sleeping on the floors of churches and junior colleges. Don’t come without first being sure you have a place to stay. Continue reading →

As many have heard, our sister congregation, the Central Church of Christ, lost its building. Here are some photos. The first is from the front — off Hargrove Road. You can see that several relief workers are staging from their parking lot.

The second is from a different angle. Continue reading →

Here are two websites where you can get up to date information on recovery efforts as well as videos and photos:

The Tuscaloosa News

AL.COM (consolidated website for several major Alabama newspapers, covering entire state)

Evidently some areas are being opened up to traffic — and hence to volunteers. The police had the entire area cordoned off earlier today due to natural gas leaks and fallen power lines.

I should have more information in the morning on how to volunteer or otherwise help in the relief effort.

I’ve received several emails, phone calls, and Facebook messages offering to help with the recovery here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I’ve made some calls to see how this can best be done. I really appreciate all the offers, but there are some we can’t accept.

Here’s what I know:

1. Do NOT send people. The police are letting NO ONE into the damaged areas due to gas leaks and downed power lines. This will likely change by Monday, but for now you just can’t get in — even if you own a home in the area. We have members who live there and aren’t being allowed back in. Continue reading →

This video was taken from about a block away from an F5, which went through Tuscaloosa in an area filled with apartments and retail buildings, leveling a path miles long and 2 blocks wide. My apologies for the cameraman’s language, but I think you’ll agree it was understandable under the circumstances.

I am fine, as is my family. So far, we have no reports of serious injury or death among the members of my church, but there are over 30 dead in Tuscaloosa and likely more. Search and rescue is ongoing.

Two of my employees lost their houses but survived.

While my congregation’s church building is fine, several churches in town lost theirs. City services are compromised, but much of the city is untouched.

I’ve lost power at my home, but it appears otherwise undamaged, and so I’m posting from the office, which was untouched. In fact, most of Tuscaloosa was untouched. But the areas affected are utterly devastated.