Between April 25’h and 28‘“ in 2011, the US saw 355 confirmed tornadoes spread across 21 states The outbreak resulted in 348 deaths, 238 of which were in the state of Alabama. On April 27‘” alone, the nation saw 211 tornadoes, 317 deaths, and over 2,000 injuries One of the most notable April 27m tornadoes was the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado, an EF—4 that traveled over 80 miles from the city of Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. The path of destruction reached 15 miles wide and it was estimated that sustained winds reached 190 miles per hourl Of the 317 deaths on April 27‘“, 65 were from this one tornado. The tornado also cost $2.4 billion to the area. At the time of the outbreak, Ashley was a high school freshman in Hoover, Alabama, a suburb in the Birmingham metropolitan area.
She’s now a sophomore at the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. I wanted to interview her about the storm because even when living in Hoover, she had close ties to Tuscaloosa, going to the city every weekend I also felt that given her current residency in Tuscaloosa, she would be able to provide interesting insight on the development of the city in the years following the storm More recently, the state of South Carolina was hit with days of rain due to moisture from Hurricane Joaquin sitting over the state The resulting flooding occurred from October 2“” to 4’“, 20151 The floods are responsible for 19 deaths statewide During this even, 14 dams and canals broke across the state, 7 in the city of Columbia, which happens to be the state capital and the largest city in the state, Columbia was heavily affected by the flooding, The city faced a curfew for a few days, a water boil advisory until October 14‘“, and schools and universities were closed for about a week due to damage to buildings and safety concerns A breached canal in Columbia left 130,000 without water for anywhere from one day to close to a week. Lillian is a sophomore at the University of South Carolina, located in Columbia, During the time of the flooding, she was in her apartment near the school’s campus.
I wanted to interview Lillian because I was curious to see how her constant optimism would contrast Ashley’s striking realist personality The first key similarity between the two interviews is the lack of preparation by each for the natural disasters. Neither Ashley nor Lillian felt that their communities were prepared for the effects of the event. For the tornadoes in Alabama, there is very little preparation to be done for each individual storm, but the region should be more prepared for the possibility than they are. As Ashley said, “it was a tornado, and you don’t get too much warnings with those” (Appendix B). Ashley also noted the fact that many in the area do not have basements or storm shelters even though it is very common for Alabama to have tornadoes. Lillian also felt that the community was not prepared for the extent of flooding Columbia received. She believes that Columbia was warned, but not prepared.
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Only very small preparations were made before the flooding — Lillian‘s landlord recommended that electronics be taken off the ground. Neither neighborhood was ready to handle disaster. Asecond similarity between the two experiences was the pure shock at the devastation caused, Ashley’s shock was largely in part due to the speed of the destruction. The tornado left a path of destruction devastating three counties within two hours, and destroyed places that were very familiar to Ashley. The fact that so much could be destroyed within an instant was incredibly shocking to her. Lillian’s account was similar in that she could not believe it was happening to her community. She described watching Columbia suffer through the flooding as “like watching a doomsday movie but it was actually happening in real life” (Appendix C)
The third important similarity is more optimistic: the sense of community each gained in the recovery process. Both grew into stateewide relief and recovery efforts. The main lesson Ashley learned from the disaster is that “all we have is each other” (Appendix B) She was proud of the way the state came together, especially within Tuscaloosa itself, to help out neighbors, friends, and strangers alike, Lillian showed pride in the state as a whole as well, mentioning ”Together“ shirts passed out to remind the community of how strong South Carolina is. Lillian also volunteered with the American Red Cross during the relief efforts, and through volunteering felt closer to her community, She lists some of the ways that she saw her community open up to take care of each other, from trying to foster animals that had been displaced or reuniting lost animals to owners to opening high schools to house people without a place to sleep.
As I had suspected, the main differences between the responses in the interviews come down to optimism and exposure First was the view of the aid provided to help and rebuild the community. Lillian, who lives in the university area of Columbia, believes that the government did everything in their power to help the affected regions, but Ashley only sees positivity in the wealthier areas, like the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham themselves, Lillian noted the sandbags flown in and the water passed out, but Ashley talked about how there was no focus to the damage done in small towns.
In addition to how both viewed the effectiveness of the aid, there is a stark difference in whether or not each is still constantly aware of the effects of the disastert In Alabama, according to Ashley, “you can still drive through places like Alberta City and see piles of rubble and buildings that hadn’t been rebuilt” (Appendix B). A lot of the construction in Tuscaloosa is still recent, as well. Recovery efforts have lasted five years and are still continuing, Columbia, on the other hand, is back to normal, according to Lillian. There are still some buildings with water damage, but campus life is back to normal. I do attribute this difference to exposure of the affected area, Ashley drives by and through the small towns affected by the tornado whenever she travels to and from Hoover. Lillian lives in the university area of Columbia and does not see much of the damage to poorer neighborhoods.
The most interesting thing I learned through these interviews is the extent of the rebuilding ofAlabama, Birmingham looks better than it did prior to the storms, and Hoover rebuilt very quickly. To learn that there are areas that are still piles of rubble is astonishing to me, The tornadoes ravaged the area almost five years ago, and people still see the destruction on a daily basis. It was also very interesting to figure out why each of my interviewees saw the return to normalcy differently Realizing that it comes down to exposure is interesting because it’s not something I would think of affecting the normalcy of a state.
References
- Leblanc, C, (2015, October 6). Columbia, S.C., works frantically to repair broken water system. Charlotte Observer. Retrieved from http://www,charlotteobserver.com/news/local/atticle379563424html National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (2011).
- Tuscaloosa-Birmingam EF-4 Tornado. Retrieved from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event¥04272011tuscbirm Roney, M, (2013, April 30). Recovery continues 2 years after Ala, tornadoes, USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/ZO13/04/28/tornado-recovery- continues-in-alabama/2118029/
