"There is no such thing a free lunch."

Described as the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina, a series of severe tornado producing storms roared throughout the southeast over a four day period leaving 344 people dead at the time of this post, while hundreds remain missing. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is estimating 312 tornadoes were formed, a majority of those in the state of Alabama, which experienced the greatest extent of devastation and loss of life. The city of Tuscaloosa, a city of around 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama, was struck particularly hard. Preliminary NOAA reports, have categorized the large wedge tornado that craved a path across Tuscaloosa County and parts of Birmingham around 5:10pm on April 27, as an EF4 with sustained winds of up to 190 mph, with a maximum width of 1.5 miles and track of 80 miles. This particular storm was responsible for at least 65 deaths in the county. Further information as well as satellite images can be seen here: NOAA April 2011 Tornado Information and The Huffington Post has a series of before and after satellite images of the city and the subsequent destruction which can be viewed here. The University of Alabama’s school news paper, The Crimson and White Flicker stream also has a collection of before and after photos.Below is a video and several images of the gigantic tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa.

Images of the Tuscaloosa tornado as it passed by the University of Alabama Bryant-Denny Stadium

and the interstate.

Source: Tuscaloosa News/AP

To the north of the state, the city of Huntsville (home to Redstone Arsenal, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Marshall Space Flight Center, amongst other things) and surrounding counties were heavily impacted by the storms, the infrastructure destroyed so heavily that power to a majority of the area was lost for over six days, leaving some 500,000 – 600,000 citizens without electricity. Throughout the state some 1 million people were left without power. The city, much like many of the other affected areas, issued a mandatory dusk to dawn curfew, to ensure safety and avoid looting and other criminal mischief. Much of the resources were quickly depleted with fuel running low and perishable food items quickly becoming unusable. Local officials also requested the citizens to conserve water in order to maintain a sufficient supply of potable water. Initial reports indicated that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Browns Ferry nuclear plant may have been damaged, which sparked fears of a possible Japan-like crisis of a partial meltdown; however, it was soon confirmed that the nation’s second largest nuclear power plant’s safely shutdown after the TVA lost all of the connector lines. While similar in design to the Fukushima power plants, unlike the Japanese plant, the backup generators at Browns Ferry functioned just as designed, powering up mechanism to cool the fuel and prevent a meltdown.

It has certainly been a tough year for many of the places I consider home. As it happens, on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 27th I was sitting in my Chinese politics course with a colleague who is also from Alabama, and who, like me, graduated from the University of Alabama. As any Southerner living in the tornado belt would be, we are accustomed to the capriciousness and the fury of mother nature, severe storms and the threat of tornadoes occurring in the spring and summer are just a way of life. At the beginning of class my friend made a remark in reference to the storm systems which were making their way across the state at the time, and because I had been in contact with my family throughout the day, but was not aware of the severity, I didn’t think much of it. It’s certainly common to lose power during these severe storms while listening to the intense wail of the warning sirens indicating a tornado has been spotted somewhere in the county. Constant monitoring of the local news outlets via television or weather radio are also part of the procedure. According to what I was hearing from home, it seemed like an intense, but relatively normal set of storms for the season. It was only after class and upon arriving home that I learned how truly devastating the storms would prove to be. The internet and contact with friends from home now living in other states, started to shape a disjointed and terrifying picture of the scope and power of the storms. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado outbreak was the biggest in US history (this collection of maps illustrates in frightening detail the number of tornadoes and provides satellite imagery of the storms), and monstrous tornadoes certainly reared their ugly and destructive heads throughout Alabama and many of the surrounding states. All afternoon, evening and the following day I attempted to contact friends and family receiving “all circuits are busy” messages or no response at all due to power outages. By late evening, I had learned of the fate of Tuscaloosa, and many of the places which once were familiar hallmarks of the city to me were unrecognizable piles of rubble and debris. The landscape of the city instead resembled a war scene, with only twisted hunks of metal, splintered wood, crushed vehicles and stripped foundations remaining.

President Barack Obama tours tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) - Source: Huffington Post/AP

I poured over disconcerting images of the damage, recognition of areas made possible only by the label on the image, to try to process and internalize some of what had happened. Less than a month before, similarly I did the same with images of the devastation in Japan. Japanese friends, in the midst of processing and dealing with their country’s crises, contacted me to confirm that I was safe and that my family was well. Friends I had met at my university were also concerned, and wanted to know the status of the city and their friends.

Thankfully, my family is safe, and at the time of this posting most of their residences have had the power restored. As for my friends and former colleagues in Tuscaloosa, I have had some difficulty contacting many of them; although, I finally reached the one friend I had been unable to contact for the last six days, which means everyone is accounted for and safe. The good news is that they are uninjured, the bad news is that many of their homes have either been heavily damaged or completely destroyed.

The loss of life is heartbreaking and I am sure that people are in shock over the destruction; however, I have resolved to stay positive and do what I can from Denver to help. There is a fairly large alumni contingent here, as well as other SEC school alumni groups who have come together to provide support and collect donations. I am planning to volunteer with these groups, and work with the DU community to collect donations. If you would like to donate to the relief and recovery effort, please see the links below:

How to Donate to the Alabama Tornado Relief and Recovery Effort:

The T-town Never Down page has a pretty comprehensive list, but I have listed a few resources below.

American Red Cross – You can text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 general donation. You can also contribute to the American Red Cross Relief Fund either by calling 1-800-HELPNOW, visiting http://www.causes.com/causes/608753 or click here to make a direct donation, or by sending money to: American Red Cross of West Alabama, 1100 15th St. E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35404. Be sure to specify that you want your donation to go to the Tuscaloosa tornado victims.

Salvation Army – To donate to The Salvation Army’s relief work please call 1800-SALARMY or log onto www.salvationarmyusa.org. You can also text “GIVE” to 80888 to make a $10 general donation. Checks can be made out to the Salvation Army Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 100339, Atlanta, Ga., 30384-0339.
City of Tuscaloosa
Give Tuscaloosa

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has also set up a relief fund:
Governor’s Tornado Relief Fund, Neighbor Helping Neighbor Inc.
The Tuscaloosa News
P.O. Box 20187
Tuscaloosa, AL 35402-0187
http://www.servealabama.gov/2010/default.aspx
For Recovery Assistance or Volunteer Information, call 2-1-1 (in Alabama) or toll-free 888-421-1266

Tuscaloosa City Disaster Relief Fund
PO Box 020410
Tuscaloosa, AL 35402
(205) 758-7588
http://www.givetuscaloosa.com/
This is a great site where you can send donations directly to the city of Tuscaloosa.

T-town Never Down
This site provides a lot of resources for ways to help, and proceeds from t-shirt sales are being donated to the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund

Donation Drop-off Locations in Colorado:

Material Donation Drive – NOW through May 14th
Items needed: toiletries, diapers, baby bottles, tarps, garbage bags, blankets, sheets, towels, underwear and socks. They are inundated with clothing & water at this time, but it has been noted that they need clothing for the elderly and clothing which will fit larger sized people.

Drop off locations are as follows:
Denver
Moe’s BBQ: 530 Broadway, Denver
Donations accepted before 11 AM & after 2 PM daily

Colorado Springs
Phil Long Hyundai of Chapel Hills: 1510 Auto Mall Loop Colorado
Springs, CO 80920
Colorado Springs:
Contact Matt Ayers and Mell Waters
New Life Church,11025 Colorado 83
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
(719) 594-6602

Boulder
Recreation Services, University of Colorado at Boulder,
UCB 355, Boulder, CO 80309-0355