Tornado Entry: 7

The initial shock of the disaster is wearing off. Things are getting to be routine. I report to the church by 7:45 and get assigned a team, give them a talk about what we will be doing, pick up the work orders, and get to it.

The response of the people who want to help is pretty overwhelming. I must have had charge of some 15-20 people on Thursday. I did not have any of my old team on hand so it was starting from scratch. Using the lessons I learned from setting up the run last fall I designated authority. There was a girl who stood out as a leader. I split the team in half and sent her off as the leader with the “chainsaw boys” to do tree removal and tarping. I then got my crew together and we went to do tarping only.

I’m seeing first hand the effect of 30+ years of technology and soft living. My childhood was like that portrayed in the “Our Gang” comedies. We were out the door and on our own pretty much till supper. We built tree forts from scrap wood, played in the freight yards, and thought nothing of crossing the New York Central RR trestle crossing the Erie Canal.

I had a lot of kids today. I try to pick the most able to do the climbing. The roofs we were working on were of shallow pitches. I try to do an assessment to assign people to the jobs they can do. It can be difficult when only three can climb a ladder.

The one boy I had on the roof had barely used a hammer before. I asked if his dad ever taught him how to use tools and he replied, “Oh no sir, my dad didn’t want me to do that kind of thing, I might get hurt.” I’m usually a bad teacher in that I’m left handed, so it is nearly impossible to convey the proper techniques to right handed people.

I need to cut this short today. Debbie and I walked this morning so I’m a bit behind. I wanted to have a bit of normalcy.

This is a shot of my crew and the homeowner whose roof we patched up.

After leaving this job I attempted to join my other crew over in Alberta City. It can be impossible to find addresses in that area. On the way I stopped home and changed into my Utilikilt. I could not stand wearing pants anymore!

I got a call on the way they cad finished the job and to just head back to the church. The guys were surprised to see my Utilikilt and I made my explanations. There was no orders to not wear it, so I’m heading out in half an hour for my assignments in my “dress”!

They asked if I wanted another job or not. I said how it was nearly 3:00 I could make it to Birmingham for a pick up and then could work a full day Friday. The leaders face lit up, “You’re going to Birmingham?” “Yes, anything I can do to help you?” I said.

It turned out to be about 15 boxes of Tee Shirts needed to be delivered to the Samaritan’s Purse set up in Hueytown. I loaded up the truck and drove first to the Yellow Freight Terminal, and then found the church. The tee shirts were dropped off and I arrived home about 6:30 exhausted.

I don’t have time to chronicle the adventure of the trip. I’ll do that tomorrow. I’m going to take the weekend off. There will be more than enough people, and I need to get caught up on so many things. I want to see if I can organize a quick row on Sunday to just get back to a degree of routine and normalcy.

See, here is a picture of the new fire hydrant!! I’m getting back to normal!!!