Anyone in Alabama? Are you OK?

[domestic goddess]

Just heard about the bad weather in Alabama. My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this weather. Is anyone here affected? I sincerely hope all are safe.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

And GA. Hope all of you are safe there.

[CathyA]

I hope everyone is okay everywhere. This weather and all these storms and flooding are just unbelievable. I hope you all and everyone you love are safe.

[Kat]

I hope so, too! My heart goes out to those impacted by the storms and flooding.

[danna]

My prayers are with everyone suffering these storms....

[gimmethesimplelife]

Unbelievable, I just saw video of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, and supposedly it was a mile wide, and is perhaps the longest travelling tornado in US History. I can only begin to imagine the shattered lives left in its wake. Prayers out to the SE US right now.....Rob

[domestic goddess]

When I wrote this, they were just talking about Alabama on the news, then later reports came in about GA, TN, KY, the Carolinas and more. All my friends and relatives seem to be unaffected. I also saw the video of the tornado in Tuscaloosa, and it was just incredible. My heart breaks for the friends and families of the more than 200 dead. Not to mention those who have lost everything.

[jennipurrr]

I am in Tuscaloosa and the devastation is so much more than you could ever believe on TV. Our street has some trees down (we just had some in our yard) and one street over has all the trees down, then two streets over starts roofs being blown off and then after that it is mile after mile of wasteland...it looks like a bomb has been dropped. It is so heartbreaking :(

We have had a lot of storms here recently (if anyone remembers the tree through the carport post last week)...we knew it was bad when we heard the real sound of a tornado (like a freight train) but then we came out and just hung around with the neighbors, watched a couple of trees finish splitting. Griping about the storms, the damage to the neighborhood (which seems minimal now), etc...then my husband and I went to check out the main street and this mass exodus of people was coming up. It was like nothing I had ever seen. All I could do was cry. They were coming from Alberta (about 1 mile away) if you have seen that area on the news..it is where President Obama visited. This was one of the poorest parts of our town and they had climbed out of houses and apartments that were rubble. All we could do was grab our bottled water and hand it out. It was one of the most helpless feelings I have ever had.

Anyway, we have been clearing out our yard and helping pack up friends who have lost everything. I had to go the atm and popped into my office to get a little sanity break on the internet. It is so weird, I miss the net more than TV for sure and even power in some ways since the weather has been very pleasant the past few days. We are supposed to be getting power tomorrow but who knows.

If anyone wants to see the tornado up close and personal, this is a frightening and amazing video - http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2011/04/alabama_tornadoes_another_shoc.html It was taken by an old boyfriend of my sister's (have I mentioned she tended to date wild guys, heh).

If anyone is interested in donating, the city of Tuscaloosa has a facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/TuscaloosaCity

[CathyA]

Oh jennipurrr.........I'm so glad you and your family are okay. Its just all so unbelievable. How lucky you are that it just missed you.

[jennipurrr]

If anyone is interested in making a monetary donation, you can do so through the United Way of West Alabama - http://www.uwwa.org/

Also, on a different message board I have had some interest from couponers interested in sending their stockpiles. If you would like to do that you can PM me and I will send my address and get these items to Temporary Emergency Services, which is handling this aspect.