Tuscaloosa Tornado Damage Aerials Part 1

[Generic Other]

Run time: 08:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6giQ3csbUg   Posted on YouTube: April 28, 2011 By YouTube Member: abc3340 Views on YouTube: 81945   Posted on DU: April 30, 2011 By DU Member: Generic Other Views on DU: 2407

 
Tuscaloosa tornado damage, shot by Bill Castle of ABC 33/40 in Birmingham.

**************

This video really gave me a sense of just how extensive the damage is. That's a powerful force that moved through the area.
I am amazed at the destruction.

[Jumping John]

1. God has a stimulus plan. n/t

[uppityperson]

6. Inappropriate. Many people died. nt

[indepat]

2. Makes the 1973 Jonesboro, AR tornado, some $70 million in insured property damage,

look like child's play in comparison. :cry:

[ReggieVeggie]

3. I had to stop

so much devastation

[AsahinaKimi]

4. So is there such a thing as

Insurance for Tornado? Or do they just consider it an "act of God" and say, "hey, you live here, you are on your own!"

SO many disasters lately..all of it so sad. I wonder how many countries will come to our aide and donate to the Red Cross or other charities.

[SheilaT]

9. It depends. You may be able to get

tornado coverage, depending on where you live and how high the risk is. Rather like earthquake insurance. It's a lot more expensive in places like California where the risk is clearly there. Dirt cheap in Kansas.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. who wants to scrape FEMA now?...

[Generic Other]

18. They are needed when emergencies of this magnitude occur

The whole country's help will be needed. We have to pull together at times like this.

[Kceres]

7. OMG. I wanted to stop watching but I couldn't.

It's like driving past an auto accident. It's so surreal you can't take your eyes off. We are seeing so much of the wrath of the Earth lately: earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes. Mother nature is not happy with us.

[democrat0986]

8. as a resident of madison al

Which was hit by this same swarm of storms and where many houses were leveled and people were killed, I would really like to see this issue stop being politicized. We aren't all tea party repubs out here and to be quite honest, our politics are irrelivant. This is day three with no electricity for us, but I am lucky to be alive with a roof over our heads. The president was here today and the residents here have been thankful for his aid and comfort. The jokes I'm seeing here on du are quite unsettling and the politicizing is pretty aweful. Please keep us in your thoughts. Alabama is in big trouble right now.

[SheilaT]

10. A couple of comments about that

amazing footage. First off, the destruction is so vast and so great, and knowing that this video only showed one of the -- how many hundred plus tornadoes was it? -- twisters, I'm surprised that the death toll is only in the hundreds, not in the thousands.

The other comment is that I noticed the very characteristic denuded trees. Years after a tornado has passed through, they way the trees were totally stripped of leaves and branches, and therefore the way they grow back, makes it easy to tell that a tornado passed through there once.

I keep on driving through Greensburg, Kansas, when I go back to Overland Park to visit, and even four years later it's obvious from the trees, even if from nothing else, that a tornado passed through.

[grahamhgreen]

11. Global Warming. More superstorms are predicted. Not a lot of National Guard there.

[JDPriestly]

12. In case some DUers may not realize it, Tuscaloosa is the home of the Univ.

of Alabama. This is a great loss.

[ReggieVeggie]

14. was UofA hit?

I hadn't hreard that

[florida08]

15. From NYT

On Thursday, the university called off the rest of this school year — canceling final exams and the last week of classes, and postponing graduation until August. Although the storm spared the campus itself, the 30,000 students and 5,000 faculty members and staff at the state’s flagship university have felt the toll deeply.

Three students have been confirmed dead. At least 80 employees are missing, said officials at Aramark, the campus food service provider. Dozens of homes rented by students have been demolished. And displaced residents are now living on air mattresses in the gymnasium.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/30/us/30campus.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

:(

[Generic Other]

19. Thank goodness there are shelters available

Yes, the school did the right thing. Once the immediate shock wears off, the real worries will set in. Basic survival becomes an issue. Especially for those with no resources or family to help.

Have they set up a place for donations? People will need help.

[JDPriestly]

20. I don't know.

Another casualty was almost Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium. A tornado in Tuscaloosa narrowly missed the home of the Crimson Tide football team.

Because of the devastation, the university will hold no more classes this semester. Final exams for next week also have been canceled. Graduation ceremonies, scheduled for May 7, will be postponed until August.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/04/alabama-bryant-denny-stadium-tornado-tuscaloosa/1

I figured some off-campus student and faculty housing might have been affected. That is why I mentioned it.

[florida08]

13. Horrific

I hope the governor has learned some humility through this. Am sure he will accept donations from those who are not his brother and sister. Since he asked for federal relief I assume he didn't really mean to gut funding for FEMA. Regardless of his shallow small mindedness I support Alabamians without reserve. Breaks the heart to see such devastation and loss of life. Something any of us could experience at anytime.

Please support the Red Cross

[Hyper_Eye]

16. Politics stop at the disaster area.

The Gov. asked for federal assistance the night of the storm and Obama approved it quickly. FEMA is here. They are helping. The President came. People were grateful for his attention. I can tell you I haven't heard one word about politics. Many people are dead. Many many homes are leveled and seeing them with my own eyes was heart wrenching. Right now my family and I are just glad to be alive and have a home. We have already cleaned up the mess around our home but there are many who aren't so lucky. Politics will heat up here again but there is no place for it ATM. We are neighbors first and that is what we need right now.

In Madison Co. we have been completely without power since Wednesday and we probably won't get any until Tuesday. We are cookng everything we have in grills so it wont spoil.

Just rememberber that there are a lot of people out here trying hard year after year to elect good representatives. It is hard for us but true libreral progresses, like myself, do exist here and we are doing the best we can. Regardless of the politics of this State I would hope DU would feel about this disaster the same they do about any other. Many good people died and when that happens DU cares!

Cell phone service is bad and data is very slow so hopefully this will post. Hopefully things will be a lot better on Tuesday.

[Generic Other]

17. Not political...it's about fellow Americans and so devastating

The videos from this person's Youtube Channel show the true extent of the suffering. You can see a cameraman at ground level speak of the destruction but it is hard to gauge from the POV. These helicopter videos however just really show the magnitude of the destruction.

In Fukushima the debris was left behind. Here, much of it seemed to have blown away. And the way the trees had blown down reminded me of Mt St Helen's blast zone. Unbelievable destructive swath and it goes on for what seems like forever! Really really scary.

I can't even imagine how hard it is to cope with all that loss. My heart goes out to everyone who was touched by disaster like this.

[Hyper_Eye]

21. You are right. The video is not political.

I can't watch much of it because the cell service is bad but I pretty much know what is in it. Thank you for posting it so people could see the extent of the devastation. Some of the comments are political and they aren't helpful right now. It is a little hypocritical of peole to point out the request for FEMA aid when I know those same people would be lambasting a failure to request it. Yes, there is an irony in the gov. of AL requesting federal aid but it is needed and I'm glad they didn't play politics when lives needed to be saved and now rebuilt.

[Generic Other]

22. kicking

We need to try and help if we can.