Hi Darren,
I have missed a lot of news lately, including most of the coverage on the tornadoes in Alabama. Thank you for sharing. Those videos are very impactful. My heart goes out to you and yours as well as other affected by the tornadoes. Know that you and they will be in my prayers. I lived in Kansas for a year in the mid 1970s. The tornadoes just during that one year scared me out of the state. I remember Alabama fondly. I swam with a Georgia based AAU swim team when I was a kid, those Alabama teams were always tough :-) Best Regards, Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darren Evans-Young" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2011 4:04:26 PM Subject: Tuscaloosa, AL I don't know if you all have followed the news lately. Last Wednesday, our city, Tuscaloosa, AL, was devastated by an EF5 tornado. This tornado took a path right through the middle of our city, which included industrial areas, highly populated residential areas, and highly populated retail areas that contained many restaurants and fast food establishments. We have 39 confirmed fatalities, however, there are still many missing and unaccounted for. The tornado missed The University campus by about 1 mile, however, it did hit an area where many students lived off-campus. Four UA students were killed, many others injured. It didn't matter if you went to an interior room or closet as we are all told to do. This tornado left nothing but a concrete slab for many homes. Some bodies were found in trees (the few trees that were left standing). Others were trapped and crushed under rubble and trees. We are all still in a state of shock. The pictures don't come close to show the widespread damage. It is difficult to identify the areas in the pictures because there are no landmarks left standing. Last week was the last week of classes with final exams coming up this next week. The University cancelled all classes, all final exams, and suspended graduation. Thank goodness this thing missed the university. Large areas of the city are without power but it is slowly coming back. The directly hit areas won't have power for awhile. There are no houses left to connect power to. The video below was filmed from a mall parking lot. The tornado is actually coming toward the camera. The person filming doesn't realize it at first. Also, realize the buildings this thing is hitting, is full of customers. After it swiped the Mall, it went onto another densly populated area, killing more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohIVzIZLuQ News video from a tower camera. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA7TKSHJ_wM Another video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0FHTG9VETY Before/after images: http://stormvictims.tuscaloosanews.com/before-and-after/ Darren ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html

