Tornado Entry: 19

Thursday started out with a western omlette at Wrights. It was so good to see this place back up and running. The owner told me how she lost her home of 26 years on Crescent Ridge Road, one of the hardest hit areas. She asked where the gang was Wednesday. I explained how they did not realize they were open again, and they met at the “nasty truck stop” at exit 77. I promised they would be back! I had them laughing telling them my Utilikilt story of tarping a roof and getting startled looks from the cadaver crews!

Finally did a shopping, meeting up with Woody and Gene at both Hell-mart and Sam’s Club. For the first time in ages I needed to get underwear. For nearly as long as I can remember I’ve worn Hane’s briefs. With losing weight these past few years my waist size has dropped back to 32” . Hanes sizing’s now go from 28”-30” being small. The medium starts at 32”-34”. The 30”-32” size I wore back in the day no longer exists! This kind of change drives me crazy!

Thursday was like reliving a previous life. After unloading the truck I took a quick nap with Daggy listening to “Performance Today” on Alabama Public Radio. Then did up the back yard, mowing trimming and raking. It was good to see some order and familiarity. Those bricks, fire hydrants, railroad signs and manhole covers are my little “utopia”!

Got cleaned up, put on my Utilikilt and walked to Innisfree to meet up with the gang. What a good time to sit back and have a few beers and tell stories. I had the fish and chips for my meal. Some good fried stuff was just what I needed!

Everyone ended up back at my house for one more beer on the front porch. It was just like the old days at my house in Lockport. Billy loves to tell the story how he and Linda arrived en route to the Union Show in their motor home in 1984. It was in the evening and a “porch party” was in full swing! We got a bucket of “Killer Wings” from Wagners and partied the night away. This old body can’t party like that anymore!!!

Friday I was in much better shape when I showed up at the church. Joyce told me I looked a lot better from the last time she saw me. Things are slacking off now. Finally I was able to crew out with David tarping roofs. David is the expert to learn from.

For the first time I did not have to drive my truck, being able to ride with Todd and Jeremy. These guys were great. They were from North Carolina and had been crewing out all week. Our tarping jobs were out in Holt, in one of the worst hit areas. The first house we worked on was not too badly damaged. It was just on the “ring”. I wish I had my taken my camera. The trees behind were bent at nearly a 90° angle. The trunks were not broken, they were just bent.

The homeowners arrived and told us the story of how the tornado hit. The stories of faith I’m hearing are amazing. The mother told her teenagers and husband to “put on your shoes NOW!” as they prepared for the onslaught. She told us “God told me to have the wear their shoes.” Once the storm passed, the first thing they all did was run out into the debris to save people from the rubble. They were about the only source for clean towels supplies to dress and wrap wounds. Their vehicle was spared to transport people to the hospital.

These everyday people are the true heroes of this disaster.

Across the street hardly a house is standing. Weeks later, many homes have already been leveled.

Our second job was to fix up a roof not far from here. This job turned out to be just down the street from the tarping job Samantha, Holly, Clay and I did last week.

The people who live in this part of town do not have a lot. The lady living in this house is no exception. Her vehicle was totaled by the storm. It was a vintage 1990’s Chevy with no insurance value. Her house is a ramshackle one story added to haphazardly over the years. She warned us to be careful and she had no insurance.

The roof was partly tarped. The bad part was a very poorly built addition. The roof deck was thin, wet particle board. David and Jeremy did the roof work as it would not safely support any more weight. I heard this woman’s story as the guys were working. If anything, this experience has reinforced to me how rich my life is. The work we are doing is not really storm damage, it is just a messed up roof.

From here we had another job in an area I have never been before. The damage here is as bad as I have seen anywhere. This trap job is extensive. The steeply pitched roof is pretty well devoid of shingles. It would be easiest to go and just put another roof on now that the deck is totally exposed. Oh well….

We headed back to the church. We were through for the day.

From there I ran to Publix and picked up six lamb shanks that were on sale and a steak.

After a delicious supper the cats and I lit the bug torches had a “party” on the patio; it is now such a nice break to enjoy my “normalcy” in this fashion.