Tuscaloosa

My heart goes out to the people of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who on April 27, 2011, experienced a terrifying tornado that was nearly a mile wide. 

I went with a couple of my fellow photojournalism students who are also my close friends, to cover the damage of this natural disaster, to tell the stories of survivors and to document history. 

 The people of Tuscaloosa welcomed me with open arms and showed me an enormous amount of appreciation and love.  I cannot say enough how much those people touched my life and reminded me to be grateful for everything that I have, which in turn reminded me that the most important thing in my life is the people in it.

The destruction was indescribable and immense.  There were entire streets and neighborhoods flattened.  Cars were stuck in trees, steal beams were wrapped around telephone poles.  I have never seen anything like it; and I hope to never have to again.


"I'd rather go back to Vietnam than to have to experience that tornado again," said Keith Cunningham, a 60-year-old Army veteran who served for 25 years.

Cunningham said he was getting home just as he saw the tornado coming.  He said he had just enough time to run into his house, into his bathtub, and get into the fetal position.

"The tub was shaking so much I couldn't tell if I was in the air or not," Cunningham said.

Another family that touched my heart was Frank and Margene Wyres, a couple in their early 80s of Alberta, Tuscaloosa, who hid in a closet in the middle of the house during the storm.  They are the parents to three daughters.  Their middle daughter, Sharon Mckissick had gone over to their house just before the storm to check on them and made them do a trial run in the closet.

"My dad wasn't feeling well that day," Mckissick said.  "But I told them they had to get in the closet and make sure that they shut the doors."

The Wyres home was left barely standing.  The entire front of the house was completely gone along with the roof and attic.  A part of the attic actually fell in front of the doors to the closet that the Wyres were hiding in. 

The Wyres oldest daughter, Shelia Spencer said that it was a blessing that that part of the attic fell in front of the doors because otherwise her parents may have been sucked out by the tornado.

"Cancer was nothing compared to this," Margene Wyres said.  She is a two-time survivor of breast cancer.

Business owner, John Pierce, 75, lost two stores in the storm.  He considers himself to be lucky compared to the so many others.

A law student at the University of Alabama, Taylor Nichols, 27, and his wife Whitney Nichols, 26 hid in their closet/laundry room during the tornado as it took off the side of their Forest Park apartment exposing their bedroom and the guest bedroom to the outside and throwing all of their possessions in the air.  The cars in their parking lot were flipped or crashed into one another with the windshields smashed from debris and windows blown out. 

"We're waiting on our insurance to come take a look at them," Nichols said of his and his wife's car.

Nichols plans to move him and his wife to his parents house in Tuscaloosa.  "We're lucky that they live so close," he said.

Nichols' parents and younger brother helped move them out on Friday.

"I hope we never see anything like this in Tuscaloosa again," said Jo Nichols, Nichols' mother.  

There was so much kindness and selflessness that I experienced while I was in Tuscaloosa.  Several people and organizations offered countless bottles of water and food.  Even household goods such as diapers, dog food, and dish soap were among those that I saw.

President Obama declared a state of emergency for Alabama. 


I personally cannot imagine the courage and bravery it takes to go through something like this and I have a tremendous respect for all those in the South who are.

Alberta City was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after an almost mile-wide tornado ripped through on Wednesday evening, April 27, 2011. 

One step at a time, 83-year-old Frank Wyres of Tuscaloosa, Ala., is guided by his oldest daughter Shelia Spencer, through the debris of what used to be his home after Wyres had wanted to take a look at the mailbox. Wyres and his 80-year-old wife, Margene hid in a closet while the Wednesday night tornado plowed through their neighborhood.  "Cancer was nothing compared to this," Margene said, as a two-time breast cancer survivor.  Together the couple have three daughters; Shelia, Sharon, and Charlene.  They had lived in their home located in Tuscaloosa's Alberta City for 25 years.  Alberta was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa. 

Cars were no match for this almost mile-wide tornado that wiped out homes and neighborhoods across the South Wednesday night, April 27, 2011.  Many of them looked as if they were as light as toy cars; just picked up and dropped randomly.

Thousands of photographs, memories, and possessions were thrown from houses, scattered or destroyed. 

Business owner John Pierce, 75, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., lost two stores in the tornado that injured thousands and killed hundreds on Wednesday night, April 27, 2011.  By Friday, April 29, he and his family attempt to salvage any goods an clean the area.  Pierce talks about himself as being among the more fortunate. 

Police helicopters fly back and forth several times surveying the area.  Tuscaloosa, Ala., has been declared a state of emergency by President Obama. 

Resident's cars sit in disarray in the parking lot of the Forest Park apartment complex located just off 15th Street in Tuscaloosa, Ala. after Wednesday's tornado came through.  "We're just waiting for the insurance company to come take a look at them," Taylor Nicols said, his and his wife's car are among those in the lot. 

Residents spray painted messages on what was left of their homes on Saturday, April 30, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.