Tornado Hits Alabama
It's ironic that we are having discussion about Natural Disasters and the effects on kids. I have a friend that lives in Alabama, last year during a Tornado, he was at work, his family was home, and being advised to evacuate their home. He made a great effort to get to his home, but before he could get there, the Tornado hit, and he lost all communication with his family for about 24-36 hours. He did not know if they were safe, or hurt, or dead. What he didn't know is that his family was feeling the same thing about him. They called home to Delaware and Pennsylvania, to let their families know that they were alright, once communication was re-established.
So on his wife's end she had the children, they were very upset, and very emotional. They wanted their father, the son was about 7 years-old, and he was so upset that he made his self-sick. He developed headaches; he had nightmares for some time even after the family was re-united. The son was able to relax more once the family returned back to PA. He was surrounded by loving grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and their extended church family. This made his temporary transition better. As for the daughter, she was able to recovery from the disaster more rapidly; we believe her age had a lot to do with that. She was only 3 years-old at the time.
The family's house was destroyed; they were able to temporarily move back to PA, until they located a new home back in Alabama several months later. Thank GOD for family, and his job at the University, they were able to put their lives and their children's live back on track. My friend was able to file all necessary claims to recoup from all damages to his property.
Please note Home Owners and Renters Insurance is a must....
Here is a part of an article from the Tornado published by Huff Post Green (the link at the bottom is the full article):
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Southerners found their emergency safety net shredded Friday as they tried to emerge from the second-deadliest day for a twister outbreak in U.S. history.
Emergency buildings are wiped out. Bodies are stored in refrigerated trucks. Authorities are begging for such basics as flashlights. In one neighborhood, the storms even left firefighters to work without a truck.
The death toll from Wednesday's storms reached 337 across seven states, including at least 246 in Alabama.
The largest death toll ever was on March 18, 1925, when 747 people were killed in storms that raged through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The second deadliest day had been in March 1932, when 332 people died, all in Alabama.
The 1925 outbreak was long before the days when Doppler radar could warn communities of severe weather. Forecasters have said residents were told these tornadoes were coming. But they were just too wide and powerful and in populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count.
Hundreds if not thousands of people were injured Wednesday – 990 in Tuscaloosa alone – and as many as 1 million Alabama homes and businesses remained without power.
The scale of the disaster astonished President Barack Obama when he arrived in the state Friday.
"I've never seen devastation like this," he said, standing in bright sunshine amid the wreckage in Tuscaloosa, where at least 45 people were killed and entire neighborhoods were flattened. Hours later, Obama signed disaster declarations for Mississippi and Georgia, in addition to one he had authorized for Alabama.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox called the devastation "a humanitarian crisis" for his city of more than 83,000.
Maddox said up to 446 people were unaccounted for in the city, though he added that many of those reports probably were from people who have since found their loved ones but have not notified authorities. Cadaver-detecting dogs were deployed in the city Friday but they had not found any remains, Maddox said.
During the mayor's news conference, a man asked him for help getting into his home, and broke down as he told his story.
"You have the right to cry," Maddox told him. "And I can tell you, the people of Tuscaloosa are crying with you."
Friday night, Tuscaloosa officials reduced downward the death toll for the city and its police jurisdiction by six to 39, still the most in Alabama. With that change factored in, the state's death toll stood at 246 early Saturday.
At least one tornado – a 205 mph monster that left at least 13 people dead in Smithville, Miss. – ranked in the National Weather Service's most devastating category, EF-5. Meteorologist Jim LaDue said he expects "many more" of Wednesday's tornadoes to receive that same rating, with winds topping 200 mph.....
Huff Post Green (2011). "2011 Tornado Outbreak Death Toll Hits 337, Second-Deadliest Day From Twister In U.S. History" Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/30/2011-tornado-outbreak-deaths_n_855646.html
Educational advocate 101
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that everything worked out for your friend family. Often time we think that a disaster want happen in our area, so when it do, it has a devastating effect on everyone involved. That strong family bond was able to get his family through especially his son. I feel as if it may not has effected the little girl as much because she was quite too young to understand the full effect of what had happen.