VOLUME 122 | ISSUE 63 APRIL 27, 2016

Five years after an EF-4 tornado devastated Tuscaloosa, The Crimson White refl ects on that day and how far this community has come.

The Forest Lake area after the April 27 storm, overlaid with today’s recovery. CW / Drew Hoover and Layton Dudley. Photo Illustration by Melanie Viering WEDNESDAY 2 April 27, 2016 VISIT US ONLINE cw.ua.edu facebook The Crimson White instagram thecrimsonwhite @TheCrimsonWhite CONTENTS cw.ua.edu P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 People helping people Fax: 348-8036 Advertising: 348-7845 Emergency workers and volunteers worked for months to clean up the aftermath of the April SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF SINCE 1894 27, 2011 tornado. Additional assistance, both in EDITORIAL the form of donations and volunteers, poured editor-in-chief Sean Landry in from across the country. [email protected] print managing editor Peyton Shepard digital managing editor Kelly Ward 3 features editor Alyx Chandler visuals editor Melanie Viering opinions editor Leigh Terry chief copy editor Alexis Faire Rebuilding businesses news editor Elizabeth Elkin culture editor Matthew Wilson Many businesses in the path of the April 27, sports editor Tyler Waldrep 2011 tornado had to rebuild after the storms, photo editor Layton Dudley still an ongoing process fi ve years later. multimedia editor Patrick Maddox community manager Dominique Taylor social media editor Collin Burwinkel lead designer Kylie Cowden ADVERTISING 8 advertising manager Emanuel Adelson (205) 223-5578 [email protected] territory manager Dee Griffin (334) 349-2473 [email protected] A magnolia tree in the wind special projects manager Michael Lollar (205) 317-7992 [email protected] From students to parents to University faculty creative services manager Mille Eiborg (205) 614-1457 to emergency responders, people who were [email protected] affected by the April 27, 2011 tornado shared is the community newspaper of The University their stories from that day and how it changed of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced their lives. by students.The cannot infl uence editorial deci- sions and editorial opinions are those of the editorial board and do not 10 represent the offi cial opinions of the University. Advertising offi ces of The

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Drive East. The advertising mailing address is P.O. Box 870170, Tus- caloosa, AL 35487. The Crimson White (USPS 138020) is published A team effort two times weekly when classes are in session during Fall and Spring Various sports coaches and former athletes Semester except for the Monday after Spring Break and the Monday talked to The Crimson White about their after Thanksgiving, and once a week when school is in session for the teams came together to help their community summer. Marked calendar provided. The Crimson White is provided for after the events of April 27, 2011. free up to three issues. Any other papers are $1.00. The subscription rate for The Crimson White is $125 per year. Checks should be made payable to The University of Alabama and sent to: The Crimson White Subscription Department, P.O. Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. 14 The Crimson White is entered as periodical postage at Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Crimson White, ON TWITTER P.O. Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2015 Patrick Murphy @UACoachMurphy Alabama SGA @UAsga Kenyan Drake @KDx17 #TtownNeverDown “We’re not going to quit no matter how #TtownNeverDown by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” hard it is.” - Mayor @WalterMaddox and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material #TTownNeverDown herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of

The Crimson White. 8:42 AM - 27 Apr 2014 2:40 PM - 27 Apr 2014 1:08 PM - 29 Apr 2014 APRIL 27TH 3 First responders, volunteers recount relief efforts

By Elizabeth Elkin | News Editor other places, became a hub for displaced citizens to find food, clothes and, in some She had called in sick to work. The cases, shelter. A huge theme through- warnings start. She receives calls from her out the months to come would be people workers, asking what to do. She tells them helping each other. to go home and seek shelter. “We kept thinking Danielle was going to Outside her window, the sky darkens, come through the door,” Thompson said. the wind howls. She looks out and sees the “Probably our greater weakness was we funnel of a tornado. Trees, branches and lost a family member. We lost our student debris have been swept into the wind and who was getting ready to graduate. By now, are dancing across the sky. It looks like it is it’s the end of the semester so we knew her. coming towards her. We knew about her sister’s bridal shower. I She is terrified as she watches mean, we knew everything.” it cut behind her house. Her house It was extremely difficult for the vol- loses power. unteers in the beginning, she said. They After it passes, she gets in her car to have food and clothing that’s always in check on a church member because phone stock, but not in abundance. By the third lines are out. day, people were coming from all over She doesn’t realize the tornado is on Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas its way to one of her students’ apart- for help. ment complexes. It hasn’t even crossed The media arrived to ask what they her mind. needed. Following the media came trucks full of canned goods and food. They stored the extra supplies in a warehouse behind their building. “Before you know it, people are All the sudden, this bringing stuff to the extreme,” she said. little bitty agency had “We didn’t realize the Salvation Army and the Red Cross were blown away. All the to carry a big load. sudden, this little bitty agency had to carry a big load.” She said the community and the — Karen Thompson country were extremely responsive to CW / Amy Sullivan their needs, and they never had any problems helping people after the first few days. It takes her four hours to get to the “We were fortunate in that we never church member’s house. Debris is every- missed a beat,” Thompson said. “The where, blocking every road she tries to community responded wonderfully to drive down. our needs.” ‘Oh my God, I hope people are alive,’ she thinks to herself as she views the wreckage. The next day, she and her colleagues A heavy load and volunteers file into the Temporary Emergency Services building, one after Jessica McCrackin, a senior another. The tornado has passed and now majoring in risk management, restaurant it was time to pick up the pieces and get and hospitality management, and food to work. science, was 17 and living in Huntsville at The building has power, but no phone the time of the tornado. Her older brother lines. She looks around the room, counting was in college at the University. She was her workers and volunteers. She sees all asked to serve as a first responder. She but one. arrived in Tuscaloosa a day and a half after People from all over Tuscaloosa the storm. would come to Temporary Emergency Communication was impossible, she Services for help in the hours, said, because phone lines were down and days, weeks and even months after power was out in many places. She couldn’t the tornado. get a hold of her brother. They keep waiting and waiting for “I was here working as an EMT Danielle, a senior volunteer, to walk and didn’t know if my own brother through the door. was alive.” She never will again. McCrackin was assigned to work “You’re just waiting every moment for in Alberta. the door to open and Danielle to walk “My first ten minutes on site, I lifted a through,” said Karen Thompson, execu- door up to three infants dead,” she said. tive director of Temporary Emergency The horror continued. Roads were cov- Services. “This other student John knew ered in debris, and it was difficult to get where she lived. He kept calling and her people to hospitals. The first day they phone was going to voicemail. He said, ‘I’m walked from DCH to Alberta, only able to going to try to go over there.’ He couldn’t use what they could carry back and forth. quite get to her house that day. He tried They sutured people’s faces, putting again the next day, because by then the them back together to stabilize them National Guard came in. The next day is enough to move them. when we found out she had passed away.” The National Guard and residents of It has been five years since the April Tuscaloosa moved debris from the road, 2011 tornado in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, she said, but it was still not enough. People but Thompson remembers every detail. volunteered to help. Temporary Emergency Services, like CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 WEDNESDAY 4 April 27, 2016 CW / Amy Sullivan

Reporters take initiative after the 2011 storm By Caroline Vincent | Assistant News Editor school the way the April 27 storm was.” as a result from the storm that she … it’s strong stuff,” Anderson said. The scale and closeness of the dam- found humorous. Finding the balance between being a Victor Luckerson was editor-in-chief age done took an emotional toll on the “I thought, ‘Even if I catch some hate good reporter and being a sensitive sto- of The Crimson White in 2011. On April student journalists. for this, there has to be people out there ryteller was one of the many lessons 27, he and his staff huddled in the base- “No one in our office laughed about that relate to me,’” she said. “ ‘There has to Anderson, along with Cummings and ment in the old, student-media building, anything for three days straight,” he said. be a community of people that can kind of Luckerson, learn from covering the event. once located in front of Bryant-Denny “That’s one of my most distinct memories.” understand where I’m coming from. And if Luckerson said his experience in Stadium, where they could see the funnel Luckerson said they pushed through i can just write my feelings and thoughts gathering information via social media and coming closer. being “so immersed in our horrific story” then it’s great if there are. If not, then so turning it around to share with readers Once the tornado passed by campus, the by “trying to get as much coverage as what? It’s been helpful to me.’ ” was the biggest thing he learned. power went out and stayed out for the next we could and sort of get any reporters While in Charlotte, North Carolina, “I cover breaking news sometimes for two days. Despite not having electricity, out there.” Sports Illustrated writer Lars Anderson my job and I think about the process we The Crimson White knew it had to report “We were just focused on getting our job was writing a profile on NASCAR legend used for that,” he said. “We kind of cre- on what had just happened. done for a long time,” he said. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was there for eight ated this pretty technical system to help us “Right after it was clear that we were not Reporting was cathartic, not just for the days when he heard of a mile-wide tornado make sure we were confident about facts going to have our building destroyed,” he student journalists, but professional ones that ripped its way through Tuscaloosa before we report them, which is a really said, “we sent people out immediately to as well. on April 27, 2011 where he was an adjunct useful tool that I still apply sometimes start covering it.” professor at The University of Alabama. dealing with a chaotic situation.” A group of four reporters and photog- Anderson knew he had to get back home He said that lesson was hard to learn. raphers hit the streets, trying to find any to write about it. “It’s still the most intense thing I’ve ever information they could. My way to cope after the “There was just something inside of dealt with,” he said. “I’ve been a profes- “It was a lot of mass confusion,” me,” Anderson said. “I just felt that there sional journalist for four years now but Luckerson said. “No one really knew tornado was to write. I was a story to be told about this tragedy.” that’s by far the most intense situation I’ve the extent of the damage really for the certainly had a different He had covered tragedies before, but ever been in.” rest of that day because it was already this one was different. This one involved Although it is difficult, Cummings getting dark by the time [the tornado] perspective on it people and places he knew. This one was continues to write about the storm that passed through.” in his backyard, and it was on a much uprooted her life, simply because she feels Luckerson’s staff came back with tragic having lived through it. larger scale. obligated to. news. The photo editor told him that 15th “I had no idea what I was getting myself “Part of me says, ‘Let’s get on with it. Street was gone. — Meredith Cummings into,” he said. “Ultimately, it changed the Let’s move on. Let’s just not. Let’s just not “It seemed like an exaggeration at the path of my whole career. It changed every- anymore. Why do I have to [keep writing time, but when you actually saw the dam- thing for me.” about it]?’ ” she said. “The journalist in me age the next day that whole area was just His story would go on to become the says ‘because somebody has to remember completely ravaged,” Luckerson said. Before 2011, Meredith Cummings saw cover of Sports Illustrated and eventu- this and keep writing about it and keep it Knowing they needed to get information her fair share of tragedies in her journalis- ally wrote a book on the disaster, which in the public eye because it’s not over yet.’ ” out to students and community members, tic career. She covered a tornado that came became a New York Times bestseller. Anderson’s reporting did not come Luckerson and his staff packed up and through Tuscaloosa in December 2000 that Those changes came to fruition because without its difficulties either, but he said found a new base camp for a couple days, killed 12 people, but this time was different of Anderson’s in-depth reporting and emo- it was well worth it. at print production editor Brandee Easter’s for her also. Her own home was destroyed tional interviews. “As I was reporting it I had nightmares,” home in Northport, where they had access among many others’. One example of such interviews came he said. “[The sense of community] solidi- to power and internet. “My way to cope after the tornado was to from talking with Carson Tinker, the for- fied my love of the University. I feel like I While reporting out in the field, The write,” she said. “I certainly had a different mer long snapper for the Alabama Crimson got to know the character of Alabama, it Crimson White took to social media to perspective on it having lived through it.” Tide. Tinker was the boyfriend of Alabama made me realize this would be a really inform its followers. Cummings found the opportunity to student Ashley Harrison, who was killed good place to be for a substantial amount “We didn’t have access to electricity for write through her then one-month-old by the tornado. of time.” a while, but our phones still worked so we on AL.com called “The Upbeat,” where she “I’ll never forget talking to Carson Anderson said he felt called to write his could still tweet stuff,” Luckerson said. would usually share her thoughts on the [Tinker] and his mom sat next to him,” story well because “These are my people.” “That became like a really sort of central positive news around town. That became Anderson said. “As we were talking, we He soon found out that people from all over way we delivered the news for several days. harder after such a natural disaster, but talked in a suite in Bryant-Denny Stadium, the world related to those of his own com- A lot of people on campus later told me not impossible. Three days after the storm, the mom had her arm around him…you munity, as he heard from victims of natural that when they were in their dorms with- Cummings wrote in first post about not could just tell her heart was just aching so disasters as far away as Japan who read out power they were getting information having to wear makeup or cook, not letting hard. It was difficult.” his story and found comfort in it. They that was going out through The Crimson the little victories go unacknowledged. Anderson found that talking to parents sent Anderson words of thanks for what White’s Twitter account.” “That’s how I work things out is through of victims was one of the hardest aspects of he shared. Covering the aftermath of a storm that laughter,” she said. covering the storm’s aftermath. “To think that what I typed in, hitting size was new to Luckerson. He said other She continued with the positive theme “When you have to ask a mom ‘What the keys, could have an effect, like have weather events he covered previously for her next couple of , titling them was it like to see your daughter in the cas- an emotional impact on somebody on the were “nothing on the scale of that storm “Tuscaloosa Tornado Humor,” in which ket?’ and a mom tell you that she picked other side of the world, is just awe-inspir- and nothing like in the proximity to the she would share experiences that came shards of glass out of her hair in the casket ing,” he said. “That’s why we do this.” APRIL 27TH 5

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 “It was months that people stayed and “I was in the building on the third floor truck averaged 160-200 lunches a day. Right crews would come in and stay,” Key said. for about 10 minutes before lightning now, they average 50-60. “We were just hoping they were good “We made sure they got fed and made sure struck the building and all the alarms went “The outcry and the need was that people and sending them to walk with that they got whatever they needed. We off,” Greear said. “Immediately people drastic,” Greear said. “They were out there victims towards the hospital because we were happy to do it.” were screaming up the wells get down, and for three hours and they would always run were applying gauze and taping things up,” Some days, Key said, it was chaotic. the police were evacuating the building.” out of food every single day, just trying to McCrackin said. “To begin with, you don’t really know They evacuated Somerville as well, supply that need.” what you’re doing,” he said. “You just have and moving everyone into Paty. They Recovery efforts went form the top to do something. It becomes smoother moved everyone in Paty to the first floor, down, she said, so the hardest hit commu- and smoother.” thinking the basement had been unlocked. nities usually got the aid last. People helping people The church feeds over 150 families in It hadn’t. Greear still feeds families who went into need a month on a regular basis. They hardship because of the tornado. Doug Key, an Elder at University Church continued to feed these families, as well as The tornado completely changed her. of Christ, said the phones at the church others and disaster teams during the after- She took a year off of school to piece back didn’t stop ringing for days and weeks. The math of the storm. Once you lose everything, together her life. church became a staging area for work in “We geared up because we had to,” Key it makes you question “There’s the person you were before the days after. said. “When this happens to your city, the tornado and the person you were after “We continued to have the doors open you’ve got to gear up. You’ve got to do what everything you know. the tornado,” Greear said. “Once you lose and people stay with us for three or four you can. We didn’t know exactly what we everything, it makes you question every- months,” Key said. “People used our build- were going to do, but we opened the doors. thing you know.” ings to sleep in. We fed them and just tried The good lord provided us work to be done, — Karen Greear to do what we could.” and we were able to do it.” The church became a drop-off place for food from all over the country. Key said “They had all five floors of Paty plus 100 Coming together tractor trailers full of water arrived at people from Somerville plus 100 people their doorstep. Evacuation from Palmer all in Paty at the same time,” Thompson said they saw people of all “We had M&M candies all over this Greear said. “I remember cops screaming income levels and races after the storm. It building,” he said. “Boxes full. We stored It was approximately 4:50 p.m. in the at people who were coming from the park- didn’t matter whether you had a home or them under the stairs. We had a tractor Ferguson Center when she heard the mes- ing deck, and they were just looking like didn’t before hand. trailer load of Gatorade coolers. The water. sage to take cover. There had been several ‘why are you screaming at us,’ and then People often think, Thompson said, The water was constant. We got water from weather alerts throughout the week, and they looked back and saw debris flying off that a place like Temporary Emergency all over the country.” most people didn’t think it was a big deal. the parking deck.” Services is for a particular kind of person. Key said he saw people from Arizona, Karen Greear, an American lunch It took three police officers to shut the After the tornado, they had to realize that Connecticut, Michigan, Louisiana and coordinator at the American Lunch Truck door. The last thing seen outside the doors things can change in an instant, and they Florida come to help. and a graduate of the University who was a before they were shut was a funnel cloud become that kind of person. It changed “It’s just people helping people,” he said. student during the tornado, left the passing the other side of the stadium, their perspective. Disaster teams took shelter at Ferguson Center and went to Palmer Hall, Greear said. “It put everybody on the same level,” she the church. which was across from Paty Hall. After the storm, the American Lunch said. “Everybody became the same.”

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Rebuilding the right way

By Peyton Shepard | Print Managing Editor

Only 48 hours after the April 27, 2011, tornadoes town hall meetings that we had after the storm, it was displaced in the aftermath, and 71 percent of those that blew through his hometown, Tuscaloosa mayor clear that people wanted a different direction, which families had a median income of less than $25,000. Walt Maddox was told two things by the FEMA direc- borne [sic] the Tuscaloosa Forward plan,” he said. Within that, 32 percent made less than $15,000. tor assigned to the city – first, that the average recov- “The community’s the one that made the decision to “These were communities that were in distress on ery period for the damage Tuscaloosa sustained was focus long-term. There were obviously some voices April 26 and far before,” he said. “Areas like Forest 10 years, and second, that he would never survive that didn’t want to take a strategic approach, but the Lake and Alberta were not living up to their poten- re-election to see the end of that 10 years. majority of those who were impacted demanded that tial, so to do nothing was to go back to the way it was. “At the time, I just couldn’t understand it,” Maddox we do something better. I’m glad that our city heard We’d been through hell and back, but especially the said. “But we were dealing with so much, I couldn’t that and responded with the long view.” people living in those communities – they had been really think through the logistics of it ... Those are, To ensure the city had the necessary resources to through hell and back.” certainly, things that I heard and understood, but I address recovery, Maddox and city officials estab- Businesses impacted by the tornado have suffered was damned and determined to do the right thing.” lished the Office for Recovery Operations. It was in ways that were not a direct effect of the storm itself. Five years later, Maddox would still sit in the same created as a reformation of the Incident Command “Two-thirds of the businesses that were destroyed office he has occupied for 11 years, though the issues Center and utilized the same staff that served as the were built before 1969, which meant they were built he has had to tackle during his tenure as mayor are initial response team in the storm’s aftermath. before the city had building codes, fire codes, land far removed from anything that could be included in use codes,” Maddox said. “So building back quickly a mayoral platform. wasn’t ever really an option to begin with, because “Disaster is something you can never plan for,” he you don’t unwind all those complex issues overnight.” said. “This is the first time we’ve ever had to do some- thing like this. There’s no manual you can turn to that says, ‘To deal with X, you do Y.’ ” Disaster is something you Maddox has had one guiding principle, however, to An eerie feeling which he has always held tightly, one that was given can never plan for. to him in a phone call with another mayor who had Where Tuscaloosa differed from situations like endured natural disaster: Rebuild the right way. — Walt Maddox Katrina, Edgeworth said, was that there was a very “He told me, ‘You get one opportunity,’ ” Maddox concerted effort from the city to work in tandem with said. ” ‘You’d rather people be mad at you for a few the state and federal level in the rebuilding process. years than be mad at you for a lifetime.’ ” Many of the complications that arose in rebuilding, That mentality, Maddox said, led to the Tuscaloosaaloosa however, stemmed from even more issues outside of Forward plan, which city officials draftedted not only the realm of municipal control. for the purpose of recovery but as a mmeanseans of draw- RRobin Edgeworth, who served as chief incident “There were some difficult conversations [with] ing the community together.. ThThee intent of the plan commandercom before transitioning to director of recov- business owners who couldn’t build back because was to approach recoveryery iinn a way that was not onlonlyy ery ooperations, said the flexibility of the office was their property was nonconforming, or they were built sustainable, but aalsolso addressed already-present an iintegralnt part of the Tuscaloosa Forward plan that in a floodway, and under federal law, you can’t build needs withinhin thethe commu- nitiesnities thatthat were most allowsallows for ongoing recovery without unnecessary back into that floodway – things like that,” Maddox affected.ed. In doing so, how- governmentgovernm positions. said. “Those are very difficult decisions, but those ever,ever, expediency coucouldld “H“Havingavin an office change over time gives you are ones that quite frankly, we had no legal choice not be a firstfirst priority.priority. thethe abilabilityity to expand and contract as necessary,” but to make.” “In“In thethe 30-plus30-plus EdgeworthEdgewort said. “It affects your response, [and] it This became a common theme throughout the afaffectsfects yyour dollars that you have at your disposal. course of recovery. AndAnd whatwha we’ve tried to do is have most of our dol- “Federal emergency management – if you think larslars go babackc into the community as opposed to just about it, they are not designed to respond to a disas- ststaffingaffing upu more and more people.” ter every day, because disasters don’t happen every But a response plan meant nothing without day,” Edgeworth said. “So they’re not adequately money.m Tuscaloosa incurred over $630 mil- staffed to manage disaster. So what they do, pre- lionl in infrastructural damage, and the event, is they hire contractors for when those things city had no money directly allocated for do happen.” costsc of this nature. Those contracted laborers, Edgeworth said, work “We didn’t have one dime,” Maddox in six-week cycles, and that can create rifts in the way said.s “We had to go get grant after grant recovery is addressed. aftera grant. We’re slowly and methodically “The way I interpret, you interpret, he interprets anda systematically putting it together.” a regulation – they may all three [be] different,” she The city has accrued about $128 million, said. “So in 18 weeks, you have three different people, mostm of which has come from federally one who tells you to do it this way, and then the next subsidizedsu Community Development Block one who comes in and says, ‘Why are you doing it GrantGra Disaster Recovery. The city has also that way?’ and so on.” receivedreceived around $30 million in insurance proceeds Most of the challenges Edgeworth’s office has thatthat havehave contributed to that total, as well as some incurred over the years have come down to learn- money fromfro non-profit community partners. ing the limitations of state and federal regulations TheThe damagesda amplified other problems that and how that plays into what the city is able to alreadyalready existedex in some of Tuscaloosa’s poorest accomplish on a month-to-month, week-to-week or CW / Jonathan Daniels communities.communit Twenty-five hundred families were even day-to-day basis with the federal funds they’ve APRIL 27TH 7 been given. building back, how we’re doing things,” she said. “I a return on value is to go vertical, which lends itself “It’s an everyday problem,” she said. “You’re want to do it well, because that’s what people are look- to student housing,” Maddox said. “When we saw thinking, okay, FEMA’s going to come, and they’re ing at, and I do want to see us build back better.” that trend bubbling in 2013, the council put in place going to help us do X,Y and Z. But really, they’re Maddox is always asked how Tuscaloosa measures a moratorium [on student housing projects].” there to facilitate on a federal level … I had this idea up to recovery efforts in New Orleans and other disas- For the 87 and a half percent of the city that wasn’t at the beginning that you just call the federal gov- ters, but it’s nearly impossible to compare one city directly affected by the tornado, the tax hike was a ernment and say, ‘Here we are! Tuscaloosa! Come to another. hard pill to swallow, Maddox said. Increasing taxes on down!’ and they bring you answers, but that’s not, “Each disaster comes with its own set of circum- on an unaffected majority to help an affected minor- in fact, how it happens.” stances, and those circumstances have to dictate the ity is never well received, he said, but most of the Edgeworth said the process is less a direct advise- pace and tenure of your recovery,” Maddox said. “For community was supportive. ment and more so a trial-and-error process. us, we knew there wasn’t a housing crunch because Maddox said he very quickly learned that there “It happens where you say, ‘Okay, here’s the way we had the student housing complexes. We knew we was no possible way to please every resident when we’re going to handle that,’ and they say, ‘Okay, but had a lot of uninsured, especially on the business it came to creating plans for building, zoning and you won’t get federal reimbursement for that,’ ” she side. Ultimately, we knew we had the opportunity to infrastructure when over 5,300 property owners said. “It may be the way you need to do it, but it plan strategically.” are impacted. doesn’t seem to work well within their laws.” “It would be virtually impossible [to please Prior to the tornado, Edgeworth worked as a legal everyone],” he said. “But if we didn’t do it the right affairs administrator for the city. While her role way, the community that I was born in – my home- is now in disaster relief, she said it has been one Finding fl aws town – would know that I failed them, that the city of the greatest challenges in legal affairs she has failed them. So I felt like we had to take the road ever experienced. While Maddox and Edgeworth both agree that a less traveled.” “I began to have to deal with federal government long-term strategic response was the only feasible In 2015, the Office of Recovery Operations shifted and state government on a different level, because option, they said they recognize and understand some into its second phase, Resilience and Innovation, it’s not something where there’s a lot of people to of the dissatisfaction that has stemmed from recovery which will continue to focus less on recovery and go to,” Edgeworth said. “Most jobs, there’s someone efforts over the years. relief and more on encouraging Tuscaloosa’s fur- who’s already done it before and ask, ‘How would “The criticism can be justified,” Maddox said. “There thered growth. One of its primary operations has you do this if you were me?’ But for me there’s really are decision that we made during the course of this been to grant commercial and residential housing not that person – not even in our state – because recovery that didn’t work. There are assumptions that loans, and according to a 2013 report, nearly all of each disaster is unique.” we made that didn’t go quite logically.” the affected businesses have been reopened or are Most disasters that have occurred over the past There was primarily the issue of increased student in the process of being relocated and rebuilt. 20 years, Edgeworth said, have primarily dealt with apartment housing, a result of private equity funding Though the coordination of relief efforts has been flooding, so it’s difficult to research solutions to large and rising land prices following the 2007 recession, that a slow and difficult process, Maddox said he is proud scale disaster that few communities have encoun- was and is being built in the 2011 tornado path in lieu of of how far his community has come and that he tered in recent history. That puts a lot of pressure general residential expansion. While it initially served anticipates the growth to continue. on her office to try to get things right the first time. as alternative housing for affected families, it became “We’re not there yet, but we’re close to a tipping “I feel like that’s one of the first things people a growing problem around two years after the storm. point,” Maddox said. “And when we hit that, the look at when they look at Tuscaloosa – how we’re “If you have higher land prices, the only way to get momentum is going to be unstoppable.”

Hurricane Katrina (2005)

(in billions) Hurricane Superstorm Northridge Andrew Sandy Earthquake (1992) (2012) (1994) Hurricane Ike Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane (2008) Hurricane Wilma April Charley Ivan Hugo (2005) 2011 (2004) (2004) (1989) Joplin Tornadoes Tornado (2011) $2.2 $7.5 $8.5 $9.8 $10.7 $11.5 $16.2 $23.9 $25.8 $26.4 $67.8

Information courtesy of Wall Street Journal, NOAA. CW / Mary Kate Holladay WEDNESDAY 8 April 27, 2016 Businesses make comeback after tornado

CW / Drew Hoover CW / Layton Dudley

By Rebecca Rakowitz | Staff Reporter the action capital of the city.” here because it was so different from what we had in the The location of Smith’s Krispy Kreme had sentimental past,” Carney said. “There was an orientation period for Tommy Metrock felt like a monkey in a zoo during value. Just as Metrock received her piece of land from her employees and customers as well.” the days following the 2011 tornado that came through father, Krispy Kreme has been in Smith’s family since 1959. Metrock also had a hard time with the city. She said the Tuscaloosa. After walking for several hours from her He is the third generation to own the store, and he was not Tuscaloosa Forward plan wanted to put a walking path home to her business, Boulevard Salon, normally a min- about to give it up. where her business used to stand and that getting permits utes drive away, Metrock was met by people with their “We knew we were going to be back,” Smith said. was very difficult. kids, pointing and gawking with their cameras. If not for his family, Smith knew he had to come back for “Just because the wind blew that shouldn’t mean that The roof was gone, the salon’s contents were scattered, the customers. They would show up while the store was you no longer are allowed to be functional and make a liv- and debris was everywhere; yet the candy remained in its closed, saying how much they miss Krispy Kreme. They’d ing here,” Metrock said. dish, waiting to be offered up to customers who weren’t been driving to Birmingham to get their donuts. Although it was no walk in the park – or on the city’s coming anytime soon. “We have a good business here, but I had no idea the love desired walking path – Metrock did rebuild and feels very “It was weird,” Metrock said. “Some things looked like for Krispy Kreme that was in Tuscaloosa – they showed it blessed and happy to be back in business, remembering they hadn’t been touched at all, and some things were when we reopened,” Smith said. some businesses were not as fortunate. just gone.” Carney wanted to rebuild for his customers, who are Business owners who did rebuild are not only happy for Boulevard Salon was one of many businesses the April mostly University of Alabama students. He said the biggest that, but also for the redevelopment of the damaged area. 27 tornado hit. According to a draft for public review of motivator in getting back in business was his employees. Ahmed said the city is a different city today than it was the City of Tuscaloosa’s Community Development Block During the rebuilding process Carney paid his employees before the tornado, and it’s for the better. Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plan, 421 businesses that around 80 percent of their salary using insurance funds. “It was a horrible situation, but a lot of good came out were in the tornado’s path sustained major damage. “Getting them back to normal, and getting them back to of that,” he said. “There has been a lot of new rebuilding, Following the storm, Boulevard Salon and other work, was the only thing that was going to erase the bad a lot of new possibilities, a lot of jobs. A lot of things have Tuscaloosa businesses rebuilt their establishments, memories that they had – getting back to normal as quick come out of it that benefited the community at large that regardless of weather and politics going on at the time. as possible,” Carney said. we didn’t have before.” Metrock and her father, who originally bought the lot Taking care of employees was also at the top of Metrock’s Smith agreed. The new rebuilding has been an asset Boulevard Salon sits on in 1979, went to work clearing the to-do list. to Tuscaloosa. space so they could start the rebuilding process. Her salon employment is made up entirely of rented “All this new development around us has done nothing “When something makes a mess, you clean it up,” chairs. Hairdressers rent a spot from Metrock and then but help sales,” Smith said. “There’s a lot more traffic.” Metrock said. decide their own days, hours, what services they will pro- At the same time, business owners are finding increased Less than a year later on March 1, 2012, on its one-year vide, etc. She let these hairdressers get an income by rent- traffic can also be a negative, particularly when it comes to anniversary, Boulevard Salon reopened its doors. It was ing a chair elsewhere for the time being since her salon the road construction it has led to. one of the first businesses back. was temporarily out of business. “I said, at one time, that it would be five years before it As its five-year anniversary approaches, Metrock said “I found a temporary location to work at within 48 hours, was all rebuilt, and I’m even going to be wrong on that,” the business is doing great. and by the next week, I was taking clients in a salon down- Carney said. She is not the only one. Many Tuscaloosa busi- town,” Metrock said. The Tuscaloosa Forward Plan is responsible for the ness owners, such as Full Moon BBQ’s Brian Ahmed, When Boulevard Salon did reopen, Metrock said some construction, which takes place heavily along McFarland Krispy Kreme’s Evan Smith and Express Oil Change’s employees stayed at their new locations, but a good num- Boulevard. Business owners said it is impacting John Carney, said their businesses are doing well ber came back and the empty chairs filled up quickly. their business. after rebuilding. Carney is proud to admit he was able to keep all of the “Honestly, it has hurt sales,” Smith said. “People “I think we’re above and beyond where we thought we’d employees from before the tornado by giving them a check avoid McFarland.” be five years ago,” Smith said. every month and making a commitment to them. He said Ahmed said the incomplete infrastructure hurts Full Carney said the McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street eventually, the funds he was paying his employees with Moon BBQ as well, whether or not people are trying to area are the life breath of the city. ran out before the shop was reopened. avoid it. On the day of the tornado, Carney drove to his shop Following the tornado, Tuscaloosa developed the “If you drive by on McFarland Boulevard and you don’t where he joined eight employees and two families in the Tuscaloosa Forward Plan, which changed many codes. have access [to the business] or you have difficulty getting shop’s pit. They crammed against one wall to stay away This meant that rebuilding Express Oil Change would be in and out, then you’re not going to stop,” he said. “You’re from debris. easier said than done. The city scratched the plans Carney going to keep driving.” “It was 60 to 90 seconds before it all moved through,” already had in mind. Regardless if the construction hurts right now, Smith Carney said. “And then we all came out, and there was “The only thing I won was the opportunity to build back said it’ll be better in the long run, so much so that it’ll even nothing left. Everything that was above street level my store at their discretion,” Carney said. be better than how things were before the tornado. was gone.” Express Oil Change had to give back some property to Ahmed agreed and said it’s all a process. Carney said if he had been forced to move his business the city, change the configuration of the property, change “All we can do is take it one day at a time and eventually somewhere else, it would’ve never been the same. the entrances and exits of the shop and fill in the old pit everything will fall back in place,” Ahmed said. “I hope “I thought when we started that business that the best and move it 10 or 15 feet. [the next five years are] going to be great. That’s all we can part about it was the location, you know?” he said. “That’s “We had to retrain people on how to get in and out of imagine, that it’s going to get better.” APRIL 27TH 9 Damage Map of Tuscaloosa

Key EF-0 EF-1 EF-2 EF-4

113 15th Street

University Mall

Dr. Edward Hillard Drive

Background photo courtesy of NASA, All other photos CW / Drew Hoover Information courtesy of The National Weather Service. CW / Kylie Cowden and Melanie Viering WEDNESDAY 10 April 27, 2016

WHERE the MAGNOLIA TREE STANDS A LOOK BACK AT THE APRIL 27TH TORNADOES

By Matthew Wilson | Culture Editor One more day, she thinks. It’s been Loryn had been a co-worker of the storm inside the house. Loryn one more day that’s gone by. Day by Arthur’s sister. Arthur met Danielle had built a fort of blankets and pil- Everyday, Ashley Mims wakes up in day, week by week, month by month, during one of her social work classes. lows in the hallway to protect them Wetumpka, Alabama. She takes her year by year, it’s been 1,827 days, 260 Danielle was a kind young woman with from debris. children to soccer practice and dis- weeks, 60 months, 5 years of waking an open heart who, like Arthur, want- The tornado took a path toward cusses future plans for college. She up with this weight in the center of ed to help people. them. Mims saw the tornado on screen, debates the price of soccer camp in her chest. “Hey, I need a roommate,” Arthur headed for her daughter’s house. She Tuscaloosa with her youngest daugh- Every day, Mims wakes up and her had announced during class. was on the phone with her daughter, ters. She takes her kids out to eat at daughter, Loryn Brown, is still dead. “Good. I need a place to live,” telling her everything was going to their favorite pizzeria: Papa Johns. “It’s a journey. It’s a tough jour- Danielle responded. be okay. Like any mother should, she’s stand- ney,” she said. “It’s not something any On the morning of April 27, Loryn “I’m scared, Mama!” Loryn cried. ing on the sidelines at games cheering parent ever wants to have to endure. had one more test, a Spanish final exam “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be her children on. She’s the type of mom I hope no one I know ever has to go that evening to finish out the semester okay,” her mother promised. you’d always see up at the school. She through this.” at Shelton State Community College. Then, the line went dead, and though worries too. She’d be attending the University next she wouldn’t confirm it until much fall, pursuing a career in sports broad- later, Mims knew in that moment that casting with aspirations of working her daughter was gone. Day zero for ESPN. A large tree had crashed through There were signs of bad weather, the house killing all three students. There’s that heaviness, Loryn was 21 years old, bright, bub- blobs of red and orange on the radars Those moments, the final minutes of bly and kind with a life long dream of coming from the west. Tuscaloosa was her daughter’s life, play over and over the weight of emptiness attending The University of Alabama. under a tornado warning. James Spann in Mims’ head. There’s before April The daughter of Crimson Tide defen- was on the television, telling Skyland 27 and after April 27. There’s life with .... at Christmas when sive lineman and team captain, Boulevard to take cover. Adam Watley, Loryn and life after Loryn. Like the Shannon Brown, Loryn sat on the side- a firefighter, was at Station 7 when he city of Tuscaloosa, Mims’ life had been she buys presents for lines at age 2, dressed in his jersey, and saw it cutting across. severed in two. three instead of four. cheered her daddy on for the National “That’s not it. That’s just a big storm Championship. She decided when she coming toward us,” someone had said. was 3 that she’d follow in his foot steps. Watley’s mind couldn’t absorb it. Loryn shared a three bedroom A mile wide, the tornado was unlike Gone house, 31 Beverly Heights, with anything in the movies. His wife texted She sees it every day, playing like a roommates Danielle Downs and Kelli him, asking for the location of the sta- The tornado had cut across in never-ending loop in her head. There’s Rumanek Arthur (then Kelli Rumanek, tion. He hated to tell her where he was. the path of Glendale Gardens. Mary that heaviness, the weight of empti- before her marriage). Arthur’s family Arthur was at the library with Wallace Pitts huddled in the small ness that persists in the pictures and owned the house for years. The young- her boyfriend and future husband, interior hallway of her house with her at Christmas when she buys presents est child, it had passed through her Eric Arthur. Loryn, Danielle, and three triplets. When they were little, for three kids instead of four family to her. their friend Will Stevens waited out she’d put them in the hallway closet APRIL 27TH 11

The 15th Street area after the April 27th storm, overlaid with today’s recovery. CW / Drew Hoover and Layton Dudley. Photo Illustrations by Melanie Viering

during bad weather. Now 11 years over time. Everyday the weight seems of what we’re going through. It keeps her memory still alive old, her daughters were squeezed into to increase, but she seems to grow Unfortunately, no one understands it through them.” the closet and her son in the doorway, stronger to carry it. That’s how Mims unless you’ve been through it.” Behind the Shelton State campus covered by beanbags and sofa pillows. describes grief. Five years seems like Last year, Mims rode in Bo Bikes where Loryn would have graduated is The television was on – the broad- yesterday, and Mims counts the days Bama, an event started by former NFL, the State Fire College. Adam Watley caster announced the tornado was until she’s reunited with her daughter. MLB and Auburn football and baseball spends his off duty days at the college, heading in their direction. Then the It’s her faith that pushes her for- player Bo Jackson to raise money for training new recruits to be firefighters. house lost power, and there was an ward, the belief that God has a plan the state tornado preparedness fund. Watley was one of the first respond- unnatural silence. One of her daugh- and is taking her on this journey for Participants bike a total of either ers to Rosedale after the tornado ters held onto the family dog, an a reason. 20 or 60 miles. It wasn’t something struck. Where an apartment complex Australian Shepherd named Sky, and “We have a very strong faith. We all Mims ever dreamed she could do, home to hundreds of people once the other sobbed. know that God has a plan,” Mims said. but she never dreamed she’d lose her stood, there was rubble. Within the “It’s fine. There’s no problem,” Pitts “He chose me to go on this journey, and daughter either. first five minutes, a woman, no shoes, told them calmly. “It’s just going to get he chose them to have to endure this. clothes almost ripped off, approached real loud in a minute.” We have almost this peace you get to them carrying her lifeless toddler. But, she knew it wasn’t going to be allow you to continue, to hold on until Watley had a son at home who just okay. She heard the sirens. They had the day we see Loryn again.” Where an apartment turned 3. He didn’t have the heart to no protection, but she didn’t want Mims went to a counselor for a time, tell her there was nothing he could her children to know they were about but about a year ago, she joined an complex home to do. Just like he didn’t have the heart to die. online worldwide grief group made up to turn away two more toddlers people Then the tornado hit. It picked up of over 20,000 grieving mothers. She hundreds of people brought to him. their house, blowing out every win- hated that other mothers were going “Not saying one life is more impor- dow and door. Pitts opened her eyes to through the same situation but was once stood, there tant than another, but when someone her children crying. There was glass glad she had a place, she didn’t have to was rubble. elderly passes away, you can kind of embedded in the walls. hide her feelings. justify it in your mind that they lived a She remembers them yelling about Reading through stories and talking good life, but when it’s a 2 year old, it’s the magnolia tree knocked down. with others has been beneficial. Mims really tough to say that they’re gone “The magnolia tree’s gone!” said there’s also a community grief Spurred on by fellow riders who and there’s absolutely nothing I can do they cried group where you can meet with people would not let her quit and pushed for- about it,” Watley said. “The whole neighborhood’s gone,” in person. ward by the picture of Loryn taped to Watley knows he and the fire station Pitts said. “It gets to a point where people the back of her bike, Mims finished the did everything they could. They had kind of look at you and turn their miles-long bike ride. no radio communication and no cell- heads to the side and say, ‘Aw, poor “I really want to do it again. One of phones, but they transported 47 people thing,’ ” Mims said. “I just want Loryn’s friends is getting married in to the hospital in a three-hour period. Pushing forward understanding. Us moms who have to Mobile,” Mims said. “I can’t do it this It was tough to deal with hundreds of experience this don’t want constant year. I can’t miss that. It’s very impor- people wounded, to have to turn away They say it’s supposed to lessen sympathy. We just want understanding tant. There are milestones — weddings. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 WEDNESDAY 12 April 27, 2016 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 parents encouraged it. The children we saw how much damage was done, Endowed Scholarship. In its fourth people with broken bones and tell had lost their homes – let them have we realized that if we had been in the year, the scholarship was established them to walk to the hospital because their play. path of that tornado, our fraternity so that Loryn’s hopes and dreams of a other people were near death. “Nothing will change the fact that house would not have stood a chance. degree at The University of Alabama It wasn’t something Watley was people died that day, but we didn’t,” We probably would not have survived can live on. mentally prepared for, but he’s proud she said. “We have to carry on and be that. Preparation is key, I think, in At Holtville High School’s senior of how Tuscaloosa’s firefighters came grateful and thankful that we didn’t.” those situations. Not a lot of college night, one of the senior soccer play- together. Off-duty members came to students watch .” ers, Jacie Porter, plans to give her the station and continued the search, When they were building their new jersey, No. 11, to Holly. No. 11 was looking for survivors and recovering house at the end of Glendale Gardens, the same number Loryn wore when the deceased. By the end of the night, Surviving Pitts and her husband decided to she played softball. Life continues on, Tuscaloosa fire stations had recovered install a steel storm shelter, because and Mims wants her children to know 51 out of the 53 deceased. Does trauma ever heal, or does it every time the wind blew, she felt the Tuscaloosa, the place Loryn loved “We’re the fire department,” he said. become so fundamentally ingrained panic. Watley moved his family into an so much. “It stops at us. When you have a prob- that it never really goes away? Kelli older 1970s model house with a sturdy “I do anything that I can to go lem, you call for the firetruck. There’s Rumanek Arthur believes the latter. infrastructure and a basement. back,” Mims said. “It’s good to see nobody past us to solve the problem She knows that she’s changed, that “When I hear James Spann talk Tuscaloosa rebuild.” and help people out.” she’s a different person now. Staring about possible storms, I get a little Adam Watley is scared that people at the wreckage of her former house, antsy about it,” Watley said. “I bought will forget about the tornadoes. He she realized how quickly life can be something with good sturdy bones to said there’s less coverage now, and snuffed away. it because I don’t want to go out that like 9/11, every year there seems to She feels guilty. A shame filled her, way. Something else may happen to be fewer and fewer stories. He doesn’t because in that moment, she was alive me, but I don’t want it to be a tornado.” want the people like Loryn, Danielle Does trauma ever heal, and her roommates were dead. She and Will to be forgotten. or does it become tried to understand what happened, Kelli Rumanek Arthur said it is to tried to be grateful that she wasn’t in be expected for Tuscaloosa to recover so fundamentally the house, but it was hard to be happy The box and move on from the tornado, but when attending funerals. she doesn’t believe those lost will ever ingrained that it never “I didn’t know how their families Loryn was like another mother to be forgotten. really goes away? would perceive me or my family,” her own mother’s three children and “I feel like Tuscaloosa as a city and Arthur said. “Danielle’s mother is the her father’s two children. She loved her the people that live in Tuscaloosa have one that kind of helped settle all those siblings as much as any sister could. kind of moved on,” Arthur said. “Not fears, and at her visitation, she looked Mims wanted to be the one to tell her that it’s bad that the city’s moved on at me, ‘Now you have three other peo- children that their sister wasn’t com- by any means. It’s good that it’s mov- Mary Wallace Pitts remembers being ple to live for.’ ” ing home. She wanted to be there for ing forward for the greater good of in a state of shock and devastation. Arthur married her boyfriend three them in that moment. the city. Will anyone ever truly under- Pitts continues to teach in the geogra- months after the tornado. They saw She told the people from her church, stand the devastation? Probably not, phy department at The University of their life flash before their eyes and but the world keeps spinning. Time Alabama and live at Glendale Gardens. realized they wanted to be togeth- keeps moving.” After the storm, they sent their er and take the next step. Living in There’s a shoebox, wrapped in children and their friends’ children Birmingham, Arthur recently had her wrapping paper with a bow on top, to Pitts’s father-in-law in Selma. They first child, now a 4-month-old daughter Mama, don’t say that. It among Mims’ most prized posses- walked downtown, shell-shocked, with named Sadie. wasn’t okay when Sissy sions. The box is empty except for a Pitts’ son carrying his guitar and her “Being a mother is one of the single note that Mims has read so daughters carrying boxes of stuff they most amazing things that I’ve ever didn’t come home. much over the past five years that it salvaged from their room. The neigh- experienced in life,” Arthur said. “That has been committed to memory. The bor’s children had bike helmets on. has been an incredible journey.” note’s always there when Mims opens Sirens blared. The buzzing of chain- Arthur works as a social worker at — Hannah Mims the box, reminding her of Loryn. saws filled Pitts’ ears. a psychiatric hospital where she uses “Anytime you want a hug or a kiss, Pitts teaches a natural hazards the trauma she experienced to educate you just have to open the box.” course, and after the storm, she didn’t her co-workers and be better at her know if she could teach it anymore. job. In the months following the tor- who were looking after the kids, not “Fall schedule was already set, and nado, she went to the UA Counseling to tell them and to make it las normal I thought I’d just teach it this once Center to work through some of her a day as possible, but Holly, the mid- New seeds and won’t do it anymore,” Pitts said. emotions, and though it took time, she dle daughter, knew when her mother “When I taught it that fall, I realize eventually opened up to her family. was getting out of the car. She knew There’s a magnolia tree planted at 31 that was really stupid. I have first- The storm’s a part of Arthur. It’s a because of her mother’s blanched Beverly Heights with a weeping cherry hand experience. One thing I was able part of Mary Wallace Pitts and Adam white face. and a dogwood. The house has been to share with my students is you can Watley. Every time they hear a storm “We came home, sat them down on rebuilt in the years since, and if you make your plans and you need to.” approaching or see bad weather on the the bed and told them that Sissy wasn’t didn’t know about the tornado, no one She couldn’t prove to her insurance radar, their anxiety levels increase. coming home. It was a hard day,” Mims would think anyone ever died there. that she owned a car, even though it Arthur’s texting her family, wondering said. “Some of the times after when we The trees were planted a year after was smashed under a tree, because if they’re okay and if today is the day have had bad weather, my children the tornado – a sapling to represent her title had been in the house. She she’s going to lose someone else close know the reality of what a storm can each student and what was lost on that couldn’t think straight. Decisions to her. do. They know what can happen, and day. Loryn’s is a magnolia tree. seemed to come slowly. They needed as a parent you try to console your “Loryn was the perfect Southern a place to live. They couldn’t stay in children and tell them it’s okay.” belle,” Mims said. “She ... talked their half-destroyed house. They As a parent, that’s her natural reflex like a Southern belle, dressed like needed a car. Never forgetting when something goes wrong. Even if a Southern belle. She followed the They moved three times over the in her mind she thinks it might not be Southern belle rules let me tell you. I next seven months. Healing came, but Bennett Bozeman remembers the okay, Mims doesn’t want her children picked the magnolia tree because it’s it came slow. After 10 days, Pitts and storm. From his fraternity rooftop to be afraid. the perfect Southern tree. When you her husband decided to bring their deck, he watched as the tornado cut Hannah, the youngest daughter, think of trees in the South, magnolia children back to Tuscaloosa. across behind Bryant-Denny Stadium, caught her mother telling her that is one of the top trees that springs “We needed to let them come back the sky a violent yellow and green. everything’s going to be okay. to mind.” and be a part of it,” she said. “We Bozeman said any time he sees tor- “Mama, don’t say that,” she said. The trees will continue to grow, couldn’t protect them from it happen- nadoes on television, the memories “It wasn’t okay when Sissy didn’t weathering storms and standing tall ing, so we should let them be a part start coming back. The destruction come home.” in the sun, in the years to come – five of the positive coming out of it again.” looks the same as it did in Tuscaloosa. Holly is now 17, Hannah, 13, and years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, A month after the storm, the chil- Bozeman said he thinks emergency Mims’ son Parker, 17. Mims encour- 21 years. This year, the magnolia dren who lived on the street partici- preparedness tests are beneficial. ages them to remember the good is blooming. pated in a musical at their school, “The “I think that they’re helpful because times they had with Loryn. Her chil- On a Wednesday afternoon in April Wizard of Oz.” The arts department with the size of this storm, you can dren have been helping Mims research with no one around, the magnolia tree was unsure about the play, but the never be too prepared,” he said. “Once applicants for the Loryn “Lo” Brown sways gently in the wind. APRIL 27TH 13 CW / Layton Dudley WEDNESDAY 14 April 27, 2016 Answering the call: Teams respond to tragedy By Tyler Waldrep | Sports Editor his home by Lake Tuscaloosa and headed for the school shortly after the storm passed. He knew it Moments you never forget Alabama pitcher Nathan Kilcrease was playing was bad the instant he got back on campus. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011 with his roommates “I remember seeing students just walking kind Somewhere in the Patterson household, a phone when the weather report on the other television of aimlessly in the streets and just on the campus was ringing. got his attention. just really with no direction, not knowing what has Then-gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson looked The weather forecaster told him to take happened,” Gaspard said. around her home. There were several faces she cover – an EF4 tornado was headed right for He stood in front of his team that morning and didn’t recognize. It was exactly the way she his neighborhood. recited a speech he’d given countless times before. wanted it. Kilcrease pulled out his phone and called In it, he warned the guys of the impending storm “[In the days after the storm], our home just his father. and told them what to do and where to go if it became, you know, a place – a safe place where “I don’t ever want to have to call and got bad. people could come,” Patterson said. “We had stu- tell you this, but just in case I don’t get to Women’s tennis coach Jenny Mainz had given dents at our house that actually I didn’t know who tell you, I love you,” Kilcrease said. “If I a similar announcement to her own team earlier they were, but we just opened it up that way. [It] make it, I’m going to call you as soon as I that day. When the storm hit, she found herself in became a place where I cooked, washed clothes, can afterwards.” the bathtub, her dog Nelly beside her and a mat- everyone came over, slept a little bit, ate and then Tornado sirens sounded, and at 5:10 p.m. the tress over their heads. went back out to try and help.” skies above Tuscaloosa were ominously black. It “It was eerie; it’s hard to explain the day,” Mainz It was easy for Patterson to devote herself to sounded like a train was on the way. said. “It’s almost like you knew something was helping the community now. She knew her team Silence followed. coming and you’re anticipating it, and you don’t and her daughters were safe and accounted for. According to the National Weather Service, the know how bad it’s going to be.” “I’ll never forget because once the tornado hit, tornado that struck Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011, Mainz had heard meteorologist James Spann’s it took us an hour and 18 minutes to find every was one of 62 confirmed tornadoes that hit the warnings that this storm was to be taken seriously, athlete on our team and our daughters,” Patterson state in what was referred to later as a super out- but she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. said.“If I had to define one of the most difficult break. When the storms passed and the damages It was like a scene from a movie played days in my 36-year career, it would be navigating were assessed, over 100 people across the state out before her eyes. The storm treated through April 27, 2011.” were dead and many more were injured. trees like toothpicks, concrete like balls With the cell phone network stressed to the of paper, and plenty of both were littered breaking point, other coaches’ attempts to track around town. down their missing athletes took even longer. Mainz said despite the destruction, DCH some- Gaspard found half of his baseball team seek- After the storm how remained relatively untouched. Prior to the ing shelter at Coleman Coliseum with other ath- storm, buildings and trees obscured the hospital letes, including Patterson’s daughter Jordan, an The phone was ringing. Parents were calling from view, but the storm removed all obstruc- Alabama softball player, but at 7 p.m. he was still about their children. tions man-made or otherwise, leaving DCH clearly unable to account for five of his players. When Alabama baseball coach Mitch Gaspard left visible to Tuscaloosa residents. the coaches couldn’t reach the missing players by

CW File APRIL 27TH 15 phone, they began to walk. when he emerged with the white dress she so desper- softball, gymnastics and women’s golf – secured Shortly before 9 p.m., Gaspard was finally able to ately wanted. national championships, a first in school history. breathe a sigh of relief. About a dozen of his players Kilcrease wished he could have done more, but he “I feel like our athletes the next year were on a mis- had damaged cars and a few lost their homes entirely, found himself back on a pitcher’s mound in Starkville, sion for our community, and if you talk about you need but all of them had survived the storm. Mississippi, less than 72 hours after the storm hit. an intangible to win a national championship, that was “You feel so blessed that your family’s okay and “We were a team that weekend that understood our intangible,” Patterson said. “I think those champi- people that you’re involved with [are okay], but then what we were playing for, and with that in mind, you onships were huge in the recovery of this community.” you have a heavy heart for the people directly involved weren’t going to be denied,” Kilcrease said. “We tried that lost lives and injuries and those things,” Gaspard to use the season there; we tried to give the city some said. “[Then] you just want to do what you can to lend hope so as we’re playing that season, we’re trying to a helping hand, and you hope you can do something play for the city of Tuscaloosa – for everybody who’s Remembering April 27 for somebody that makes an impact on their life.” life it impacted – and give ‘em something they can come to and get away from it at least for two hours of Gymnastics coach Dana Duckworth’s phone was the day.” ringing. She was discussing the cleanup efforts with Baseball wasn’t the only sport that had a season to her friend Donna Benjamin. Giving back finish in the wake of the destruction. Mainz’s tennis Even now, the most vivid memories Duckworth has team wore houndstooth ribbons in remembrance of of the tornado are not the dark skies or the destruc- The phone in Kilcrease’s hand was ringing. the tornado when it competed at the NCAA champion- tion, but the way the community rallied together in the It had been over two hours since he had spoken to ships on May 14, 2011. days, weeks and months that followed. his father, but he finally got a hold of his parents. He “It was an honor [and] a privilege to go out and do “One of my most memorable moments was when told his dad he was fine, but he didn’t have time to talk something that we love in honor and to support and I was serving food to the fireman and police officers, long. People needed help. in recognition of [those affected],” Mainz said. “When and they were so grateful and so appreciative, and I’m “[Some people] had their house completely torn you have a cause, when you’re playing for somebody sitting here thinking, ‘No I’m appreciative of you!’ ” apart, and I’m not going to go back to my house when that’s sick or you’re playing to keep somebody’s job, I Duckworth said. somebody’s out in the street like that,” Kilcrease said. mean it’s a whole different ball game, because it’s your Duckworth hired babysitters for her children as “I’m going to help them as much as I can, and there’s why. Well, our why was Tuscaloosa, the people, the much as possible, but eventually she had take a break not much I can do.” community, the spirit to kind of uplift and raise every- from the cleanup efforts to be with her kids. On the Kilcrease and his friends spent hours assisting with body up, and we competed with that in our hearts.” phone with Benjamin, the two discovered a way they the cleanup efforts. The next morning Gaspard split The Alabama gymnastics team wrapped up its sea- could continue to give back for years to come. the team up and sent Kilcrease’s group to assist with son 11 days before the tornado struck Tuscaloosa with The two launched Read Bama Read with an origi- cleanup efforts at teammate Jon Kelton’s house. a national championship victory, so the team had to nal goal of restocking the libraries of three schools While the team was helping Kelton clean up his wait almost an entire year until it could compete again. that lost their books due to the storm. Thanks to the house, a woman, Ashley Mims, arrived at the house Months passed, but Patterson’s team didn’t forget. pair’s efforts, the libraries of Alberta Elementary, across the street. When Kilcrease learned that her Instead, the tragedy became a driving force that pow- University Place Elementary and Holt Elementary daughter, Loryn, had died in the home, he offered to ered the team to win its sixth national championship were restocked, but Read Bama Read didn’t stop there. help her retrieve some of Loryn’s belongings. in 2012. Mims couldn’t thank him and his teammates enough In the 2012-13 season, four different teams – football, CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

CW File WEDNESDAY 16 April 27, 2016 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 business there. For those that experienced the storm, it and are still recovering.” It continues to provide local schools with books, and doesn’t feel like much time has passed at all. Kilcrease doesn’t think Tuscaloosa will every truly every time books are donated to schools, the tornado is Patterson said as a coach she never wanted to get so completely recover from the storm. He’ll certainly never mentioned. But Read Bama Read does more than pre- caught up in work that she forgot the people who were forget the look on Mims’ face when she tracked him down serve the memory of one of the darkest times Tuscaloosa affected by the storm. She made a point to expose herself at the 2011 SEC tournament over a month after he gave has ever seen. It also preserves the sense of community to those parts of town on a regular basis. Even now in 2016, her that white dress. that Duckworth and so many others came to treasure. she thinks regularly of the victims and their families who She had to see him one more time. Kilcrease could see “What was so amazing is that instead of the city becom- are still suffering. the sadness in her eyes. He knew seeing him reminded ing weak, instead of the city waiting to get help, it was like Tuscaloosa proved something in the aftermath of the her of her daughter’s death. everybody and their brother, strangers you didn’t know, storm, but there’s still work to do. She embraced him and handed him a note thank- friends, whoever, everyone started helping everybody,” “The way this community rallied – I think we proved in ing him once again for his help retrieving her Duckworth said. “It was like the Bible was being lived.” so many ways that we are a championship community,” daughter’s belongings. Five years may have passed, but the effects of the storm Patterson said. “[Now] I feel like our students and our uni- “The way she embraced me – it was a special moment are still visible to those like Duckworth and Patterson versity population still need to remember what transpired for me,” Kilcrease said. “That I’ll remember for the rest who know where to look – a twisted treetop here, a new and remember that there are still people that need help of my life.” We stand with Tuscaloosa