Three weeks later ...

This story was posted on BamaOnline at midnight Wednesday, for the three-week anniversary of the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa.

TUSCALOOSA _ They gathered in The Zone at Bryant-Denny Stadium and some had not seen one another since the massive tornado ripped though the area on April 27.

Many hugged, repeatedly. Their shared personal experiences served as more than a common bond, almost as if there wasn’t anything else they could talk about except for their respective teams. Just about everyone had, to some degree, that far-off look of a person who has seen too much and been emotionally overwhelmed.

This could have been nearly any collection of people in Tuscaloosa on Monday, but instead was almost every coach and athletics official at the University of Alabama. One by one they took turns on the special radio broadcast of “Hey Coach … Helping Out,” to help raise money for UA’s Acts of Kindness Fund and other organizations involved in disaster relief.

Each talked about where he or she was when the tornado cut through the industrial part of town, the residential area just south of campus, one of the biggest intersections in the state (15th Street and McFarland Blvd.), before decimating Alberta City and Holt. They all continue to feel the heartache from seeing the destruction each and every day and of how eerie it is at night to gaze upon those areas where there’s just … nothing.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said host Tom Roberts, which was repeated by many of his guests while recalling a wide range of stories.

Like baseball players Josh Rosecrans and Nathan Kennedy hiding under a mattress in their bathtub as the house they lived in was destroyed, while in another part of town former football player Javier Arenas went through something similar. Men’s tennis coach Billy Pate lost a house that he was about to sell and swimming coach Eric McIlquham said: “We had a lot of close calls.”

“I’m just thanking God that I didn’t get picked up with it,” said senior linebacker Jerrell Harris, who was in an apartment on 15th Street when it struck. “You never think it’ll happen to you.

“It’s mind-blowing.”

Others obviously weren’t as fortunate. A former member of the rowing team was killed. So was long-snapper Carson Tinker’s girlfriend, Ashley Harrison, and the daughter of former football player Shannon Brown.

“A special young lady,” said former defensive tackle Bob Baumhower, who employed Loryn Brown at one of his restaurants and still has trouble talking about her death. “We went down to the visitation in Wetumpka and it was just amazing the support and the lives that she touched. You talk about making a difference, the short time she was here she made a huge difference.”

That’s why it was so important for the coaches to come together on this evening, to try and make a difference, somehow, someway, like so many others who have endured so much over the past three weeks.

Kayla Hoffman

She thought her life was over.

The New Jersey native had heard the warning sirens and her power had gone out at Forest Park Apartments just off 15th Street, just like so many times before. It wasn’t until her roommate texted, encouraging Kayla Hoffman to join her in taking shelter that the senior barely gave the storm a second thought.

That’s how mere hours after being named the winner of the Honda Award as the nation’s top female gymnast, and 11 days after helping lead the Crimson Tide win its fifth national championship, the team captain walked outside and found herself essentially face-to-face with the tornado.

“I did think when I saw the funnel, ‘Ok, I’m outside. There’s just no way, I’m not going to survive this. This is how I’m going to die,’” Hoffman said.
With almost no time to act the 21-year-old dove back toward the building, knocked on the first door and when there was no immediate response braced at the base of the frame under a stairway, curling up into the smallest ball possible.

“The siding, roof, glass, everything kept flying at me and hitting me, something hit me in my head and I got a lot of scrapes and cuts all over my arms and legs,” she said the 30 to 40 seconds that seemed like an eternity. “I just tried to stay as low as possible and stay conscious. I thought if I can stay conscious I can live through this.”

When Hoffman dared re-open her eyes what she saw was almost beyond comprehension, especially the moments until reconnecting with her roommate.

“Cars had flipped over, on to each other,” Hoffman said. “There were no walls, no roofs. I was just like in panic. I had debris in my hair, mud all over me. I was totally in shock that I survived.”

The initial thought was to get to a hospital, but after turning the corner they began realize the magnitude of what had occurred and turned around. A shower and hydrogen peroxide would have to do. The next day Hoffman packed up all of her remaining belongings from the apartment that had been located at 1509 6th Avenue, which basically fit into a couple of suitcases.

Even though her gymnastics career had already concluded, and Hoffman has yet to find a new home, she was there Monday to be an advocate for people to pay attention to weather warnings. It was also after she finally got an opportunity to see Saturday’s CBS delayed broadcast of the NCAA meet in Cleveland, which Coach Sarah Patterson said felt like was held two years ago.

“It took me back, to remember the good things that happened,” said Hoffman, who still shows signs of the cuts and bruises while a gash on the back of her calf is healing nicely. “It made me miss my team, all of us have kind of scattered. It was nice.”

Nick Saban

When you’re the head of the Crimson Tide football program, being the biggest face of the community comes with the job.

Nick Saban hasn’t shirked away from that, but his grief was only magnified last week when junior offensive lineman Aaron Douglas was found dead in Fernandina Beach, Fla., where authorities are still investigating the cause of death. It’s the first time the coach has lost a player.

“It’s just really sad,” Saban said less than a day after attending a memorial service in Knoxville for the 21-year-old. “Our hearts go out to the family.”

“He wasn’t here that long, but a great guy and a great teammate,” added Harris about the extra layer of shock and helplessness.

Similar to men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant, who experienced similar devastation with Hurricane Andrew when he lived in Miami, and done everything here from helping people clean up to establishing his own relief fund, Saban has contributed on many levels. He’s been a spokesman during Crimson Caravan gatherings, participated in a telethon, is setting up a storm recovery program through his Nick’s Kids Fund and hopes to eventually help sponsor a specific neighborhood’s recovery.

But just as important as any financial donation, including his wife Terry purchasing hundreds of $50 gift cards and handing them out so people can buy what they need, may have been visiting a shelter and spending time with people there.

“Sometimes your presence means something and you just have to listen,” he said. “We fed everyone and we gave away a thousand Alabama shirts, which everyone was really excited about. You would have thought we gave everyone an SUV they were so happy to have an Alabama shirt.

“You can watch all this on television and see the devastation, but until you meet the family that lost their home and all their belongings, things that were dear and personal to them, the guy who just lost his business, it was just blown away, but most importantly anyone who lost any loved ones. That’s the saddest thing.”

The coach also encouraged players, current and former, to do what they can as well, although little prompting appeared necessary.

For days, John Fulton, Brandon Gibson, Harrison Jones and Barrett Jones -- who spent his last two spring breaks in Haiti helping with earthquake recovery -- were in neighborhoods doing whatever they could.

“It’s the same kind of devastation,” Jones said. “We all want to show we’re part of this community too. We’re all affected by it.”

James Carpenter, Marcell Dareus and Cory Reamer raised money at Crimson Caravan events, with Julio Jones, Mark Ingram and Greg McElroy all coming back to help out. Courtney Upshaw held a special autograph session that led to thousands in donations and also brought supplies.

Arenas drove back to Kansas City, where he plays for the NFL’s Chiefs, and did likewise, as did Preston Dial from Mobile. Justin Smiley bought an SUV for a family. DeMeco Ryans, who is supposed to be recovering from a torn Achilles, volunteered and made a sizable donation. Le'Ron McClain organized truckloads of supplies.

“Tuscaloosa may never be the same, and I think people have to realize that, but I also think that you almost have to look forward and as an opportunity to rebuild,” Saban said. “We can all make our community better by what we can all pitch in and do, but it’s not something that’s going to take two weeks, or two months, it’s going to take years.”

Walt Maddox

From City Hall he watched his hometown get carved up, but it’s the aftermath that 38-year-old Mayor Walt Maddox will probably remember most.

Tuscaloosa just had a tornado come through the southern part of the community a couple of weeks previous, and two years ago a team of city officials had participated in a week-long disaster training course hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But this was different. In addition to the county’s Emergency Management Agency command center just off I-359 being nullified, a fire station, police precinct and all of the city’s garbage trucks were gone too, with a sewage treatment plant and two water tanks severely damaged.

“That was the first 20 minutes,” said Maddox, who subsequently headed out to see the damage firsthand and relayed what he saw to Gov. Robert Bentley, the Tuscaloosa native who still attends the occasional Crimson Tide baseball game.

“Governor Bentley has hit a grand slam in my book,” Maddox said about the state’s level of support for Tuscaloosa and other afflicted areas. “He’s done an amazing job. He’s the first phone call I made.”

The first sleepless week has since become a blur, and the mayor now tries to get home around 9 p.m., a schedule he’ll likely keep until it’s no longer necessary. That doesn’t appear to be anytime soon.

“The last six days we’ve moved more debris than we normally collect in one year,” he said during the opening moments of the radio show. “We had over 155 trucks and 49 teams cleaning up debris. We have nearly two million cubic yards of debris spread along a six-mile path that’s about a mile wide.

“How do you put it into words when you can statistically say there are 7,274 homes that were either damaged or destroyed? There’s more than 500 businesses that are either damaged or destroyed. You have 7,200 employees that have been displaced from their jobs. It’s catastrophic in every sense of the word, but, and it’s a big but, the resiliency of this city is on display for the world to see.”

While Maddox has become this city’s version of Rudy Giuliani guiding New York through the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he’s been quick to credit everyone else. In addition to calling the response of local citizens during the initial hours a turning point, the city has had more than 12,000 registered volunteers while countless others continue to do so on their own.

They range from those manning chainsaws and helping clear debris, to key contributors like Baumhower, whose efforts with others to feed people in Alberta City evolved into a relief hub.

“It was an amazing thing to watch,” said Baumhower, who estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 meals have been dished out.

Or they’re like softball player Courtney Conley, who helped arrange for a truck of goods to be collected and delivered from her hometown of St. Louis and while trying to raise the necessary gas money ended up with $5,000 in donations.

“I’ve learned through this experience that one person can really make a difference,” Conley said. “You rally people and they’re going to do it.”

Those types of efforts will continue to be needed beyond the cleanup and into the rebuilding process that should be well under way during next football season, when attention has shifted elsewhere. Logistical distribution is something that Maddox now considers to be a personal strength and the city is looking for warehouse space to store supplies for when they’re needed most.

“We’re going to fight,” he said. “We refuse to let April 27th define us. I told this to the President when he came to visit, the real story about Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is going to be its recovery.”