The tornadoes that ripped through Alabama tore apart the northern two thirds of the state. Now a team of organizations, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and volunteer groups, is attempting to put it back together.
Tornadoes whipped through miles of Alabama, wiping out towns like Pullman, Alabama on April 27. Kevin Hayhurst, who works at a coal mine in a tornado-affected area, said that National Guard was still draining lakes and using cadaver dogs to search for bodies weeks after the storm. But this cleanup is only the beginning as the state utilizes federal money and volunteer organizations to work towards rebuilding.
“It’s one of the most terrible things I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Hayhurst. “This looks like a war zone but it’s on a much broader basis. They just wiped out town after town.”
While the National Guard struggles to tally up the human damages, it is still too early to speculate the total cost of the destruction in Alabama, said Laurie F. Ashcom at the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. Some organizations (link to al.com) have estimated that the damage could cost more than the $2 million Hurricane Ivan disaster of 2004 according to Alabama’s insurance commissioner Jim Ridling.
“This is a long term recovery. Literally this is a three, five, seven year recovery process,” said Jon Mason, Director of Serve Alabama.
In Tuscaloosa, one of the hardest hit areas, Mason said over 600 business and 5,000 homes were destroyed by the storms. In many cases, those displaced by the storms are being put wherever there is room.
“The local agencies are going around trying to find homes that were foreclosed on or for rent, or whatever housing they can get their hands on to try and put the displaced in,” Hayhurst said.
The cost of up to 18 months of hotel rooms or rental homes will eventually be taken out of the FEMA grant for individuals affected by the storm. The maximum a person could receive is $30,200, which many critics say is much less than the cost it will take to rebuild.
Ashcom says FEMA is one of the many organizations the Emergency Management Agency is working with as it struggles to move into the recovery process.
“The recovery staff is out working with the counties for debris removal, we’re working with FEMA, we’re partnered with FEMA,” Ashcom said. “They came, sent folks here to work with us to make sure we are getting the federal help. We work with them on a daily basis.”
Hayhurst said that overall, the programs are working well and people are getting what they need – despite a few setbacks at the beginning.
“As you might imagine when it first happened there was so much confusion, things were little disorganized for a few days. I don’t put any blame on any organization,” said Hayhurst. “It got smoothed out.”
