The Cullman Times: Tornado Papers from days following April 27, 2011

8/18/2019 The Cullman Times: Tornado Papers from days following April 27, 2011

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SERVING ALL OF CULLMAN COUNTY

The Cullman Times©2011, The Cullman Times

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

Single Copy 50 Cents

W W W . C U L L M A N T I M E S . C O M

DAY OF

DESTRUCTION

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS /THE CULLMAN TIMES

Residents survey the damage along Fourth Street behind The Cullman Times offices late Wednesday afternoon.

DOWNTOWN CULLMAN HITBY TORNADOES; H ANCEVILLE, HOLLY

POND SUFFER EXTENSIVE DAMAGE

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS /THE CULLMAN TIMES

First United Methodist Church was one of many buildings damaged across Cullman County duringWednesday's storms.

INSIDE

Tornadoes hitdowntownCullmanPAGE 2A

Thousandswithout power

PAGE 3A

Lots of tearsPAGE 5A

Photos fromthe storm

PAGE 4A


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All published material copyright 2011 byThe Cullman Times. No material in this newspaper can

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By Trent Moore

STAFF WRITER

CULLMAN — Portionsof the City of Cullman

were leveled by tornadoes Wednesday afternoon,and nothing but darkenedrubble remained of somecity blocks by sundown, as

widespread electrical out-ages have left virtually theentire county withoutpower.

Agencies ranging fromCullman Police and fire,

Alabama State Troopers,the National Guard andvolunteer fire depart-

ments responded to thecity, and helped searchseveral blocks in thenortheast section of downtown for survivors.

As of Wednesday night,four injuries and no fatali-ties had been reported inthe city (one death wasreported earlier in the day in Johnson’s Crossing from a storm), and offi-cials say most of the initialsearch and rescue opera-tions have been complet-ed.

“The storms followed apath of destruction

through downtown andtoward the Larkwoodcommunity,” CullmanPolice Chief Kenny Culpepper said. “There isa lot of damage, with treesdown on homes andthings like that.”

Authorities are cordon-ing off the heavily dam-aged area of downtown,and a curfew was institut-ed Wednesday night with-in that perimeter.

“We’re trying to directpeople around those areasto give rescue crews spaceto deal with gas lines, and

downed power lines, andall those issues,” he said.“We have a lot of agenciescoming in to help us,

which is good because we

have people who havebeen working since 5 a.m.,so we can change shifts.”

Culpepper said his only concern is that some of

those agencies providing assistance might bepulled back to other areasof the state, as areasacross Alabama sustainedheavy damage.

“Some of those folkscould be pulled back, if their local areas were hit,”he said. “But, we really appreciate the help.”

Crews were working well into the afternoon toclear trees from area road-

ways, and Culpepper saidhe anticipates most majorarteries will be open by Thursday.

“We’re trying to get asmany open as possible to

where vehicles can pass,for emergency workersand necessary vehicles to

get through there,” hesaid. “But, that doesn’tmean both lanes will beopen for full traffic,because that will takesome time.”

In addition to downedtrees, power outages arealso expected to be a lin-gering issue acrossCullman County. Officials

with the Cullman PowerBoard said it could poten-tially take several days forservice to be restored, asmajor infrastructure com-ponents were knockedoffline by the storms.

“We’re looking atextended, prolonged out-ages,” power board man-ager Mike Manning said.“The TVA, which feeds us,has transformers down,

and there are numeroussubstations out. We’ll becleaning up debris, andtrying to repair power tothe substations. Once the

TVA lines come back up,and we have thingsrepaired, we’ll start to

work to get as many peo-ple online as fast as possi-ble.”

A statewide emergency was declared Wednesday afternoon, and officialshave scheduled a pressconference for 9 a.m. atcity hall to provide the lat-est information available.Solid injury data, anupdated clean-up planand the latest on the areapower outages will likely be among the topicsbroached.

Countywide damageand injury totals wereunavailable by deadline of this article, thoughCullman County

Emergency Management Agency Director PhyllisLittle said reports were

widespread.“It’s everywhere,

because we had severaltornado warnings, and

we’ve had them track fromDodge City to Holly Pond,to Good Hope, throughthe city, and through WestPoint, Fairview, Baileytonand Joppa,” she said.“This was just a mixture of factors that got right at thesame time, and everything came together for thistype of super outbreak,and it’s that way across thestate.”

The local EMA spentmuch of the evening scrambling to open a shel-ter for displaced residents,though widespread poweroutages left few viablefacilities available.

“We’re about to openthe civic center, even

though we have no power,because there is just nopower anywhere in thecounty,” Little said.

One of the biggest

problems following the

storm was a rush of traffic,Little said, which consist-ed mostly of curious on-lookers trying to survey damage.

“Please don’t go tothese places to sightsee,because that’s a problem

we’ve had throughout theday, with people out look-ing at the damage,” shesaid. “It makes it hard toget the emergency vehi-cles through. So, we needpeople to stay home andtake care of their thingsthere, and give us thespace to try and get these

roads opened up anddebris cleared.”

Though it isn’t an issue yet, Little noted watersupplies could become aconcern if the power out-ages stretch out for severaldays. She encouraged allcounty residents to makean effort to ration water asmuch as possible.

“Because we’re out of power, we’re talking tofolks to try and help usconserve water, becauseall we have is what’s in thestorage tanks right now,”she said. “So, we’re asking

people to be really cau-tious in their water useright now, and only use

what is absolutely neces-sary.”

Initial reports indicatedsubstantial damage toCullman Regional MedicalCenter, though Little saidher office was able to con-firm those rumors weregreatly exaggerated.

“We had heard, andfolks were saying, the tor-nado that tracked throughthe city did damage at thehospital,” she said. “But,

we’ve been able to con-

firm the hospital has notbroken stride in theiroperations, and they’vecontinued to work all the

way through this.”

CULLMAN

DOWNTOWN LEVELED

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

Residents take a minute after surveying damage along Fourth Street behind The Cullman Times offices late Wednesdayafternoon.

LOCALTHURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 2A


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By Sam Rolleyand David Palmer

The Cullman TimesThe early morning storms that carved a trailof destruction acrossCullman County took aheavy toll on residentsfrom Hanceville to Holly Pond and along a devas-tating path through

Alabama Highway 91.Power was knocked outquickly across the areaas the storms descended,and the outlook forbringing service back

was uncertain. With certainty, power will be restored. Thatmay come in two daysfor some residents, per-haps a week or more forothers. But the loss of property and the emo-tional toll on CullmanCountians will be diffi-cult to measure.Hanceville and the sur-rounding area was hithard early in the morn-ing, with damage report-ed at the high school andto many areas of WallaceState Community College. Some residents

were reporting wide-spread destruction inneighborhoods. Roads

were barely passable inmany streets, andHanceville Police Chief

Mark Bowers was warn-ing that moving aboutthe city would be diffi-cult and potentially dan-gerous with the largeamount of trees andpower lines down.But the storm did notstop there. Its brutalpath cut through ruralareas as well as towns.

And it came not justonce, but several timesthroughout the day andnight.The scene in Holly Pond

was typical of most areasof the county: trees bro-

ken across cars andhouses; residents being pulled from their homesby neighbors and rescue

workers. Vicki Akers, surroundedby fallen pine trees inher yard on BrooklynRoad in Holly Pond, sim-ply counted her bless-ings.“This is not as bad as itcould have been. We lostpower, but the house isokay,” Akers said. “Thesiren woke me early andI went ahead and got up.The news on TV was

warning how bad thiscould be.”

Akers said just a few years ago weather fromHurricane Ivan broughtdestruction to her home

when a tree actually fellon the dwelling.“My daughter was homeat the time, but she wasnot injured. The house

was damaged that timeand my husband wantedthe trees cut down. Iguess this time we’ll getthe rest of the trees

down,” Akers said.Her neighbor across thestreet, Greg Pickett,awoke in the same man-ner as sirens blared.

When the storm hadpassed he arrived at the

Akers’ residence to check on his neighbors — andto bring a chain saw tobegin clearing trees.On the west end of town

on Lick Creek Road,Curtis Douglas stood infront of his house andtalked to passing motorists who werelooking for a passableroute to reach otherareas of the county.“I know that not far fromhere a man needed helpgetting out of his houseafter trees fell on it,”Douglas said. “A lot of people stopped to ask about how far the road

was open. Several of them went on through,but it wasn’t easy going.”

Douglas rememberslooking out his front window at the gathering gloom just beforenature’s violent unleash-ing of wind and rain.“You knew it was going to be bad. See that pinetree in my front yard? Itlooked like it was bend-ing over touching my house,” Douglas said.

A group of teenagers and young adults gathered atthe Chevron mini-martdowntown told of seeing trees stretched acrosscrumpled cars orcrushed against houses.Chris Steele said treeshad fallen all over townand was aware of reportsof some residents being trapped in their homes.Rescue workers and resi-dents began sharing

roles as they helpedtroubled neighbors,clearing lanes of brokentrees around town, as

well as in rural areasalong Highway 91.In one scene near Walter,a large board was usedto prop up fallen powerlines high enough forcars to pass underneath.“It’s working,” noted one

motorist. “I just hope noone hits the board.” Across the usually beau-tiful countryside, trails of shingles, metal roofs andother debris scattered asfar as several footballfields. The path of destruction appeared to

follow distinct patternsin some areas, and var-ied wildly in others.The winds and suspect-ed tornadoes dancedgrim steps over fields,forests and homes.In the final assessmentof the day — and there

will be many moreassessments in the daysahead — one person

died and only a handful were reported with seri-ous injuries. Those fig-ures may or may notchange — the final tally of the damage, like theinevitable rebuilding,

will take time.


COUNTY

THOUSANDS LEFT

WITHOUT POWERHolly Pond, Hanceville residents digging out after storms

Sam Rolley/The Cullman Times

Drivers roll slowly along Highway 91 in Holly Pond Wednesday morning.


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LOCAL CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011PAGE 4A | THE CULLMAN TIMES


Shana Glover is seen at her storm damaged home Wednesday morning in Hanceville.

STORM DAMAGE


The roof of Lane Horton Gymnasium at Hanceville High School was pulledoff during early morning storms Wednesday morning.

THE CULLMAN TIMES WILL

CONTINUE TO DELIVER

NEWSPAPERS DESPITE STORM

DAMAGE TO OUR FACILITIES.

PUBLICATIONS MAY BE DELIVERED

AT LATER TIMES, BUT OUR STAFF

WILL CONTINUE TO COVER STORM

DAMAGE AND THE COUNTIES PLAN

FOR THE FUTURE.


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Residents walk around downtown Cullman Wednesdayafternoon after tornadoes

STORM DAMAGE


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By Benjamin BullardSTAFF WRITER

In the immediate after-math of the tornado thatdevastated the heart of Cullman Wednesday, thedebris-riddled city streets, sidewalks andopen spaces wherebuildings once stoodbled one into the otheras though the demarca-tion between public andprivate space no longermattered.City residents and busi-ness owners wanderedthrough a marsh of downed power lines, oak trees julienned by thestorm into frayed tooth-picks; overturned trucks,masonry rubble anddrifts of unidentifiabledebris. Many whoemerged from shelter

walked seemingly with-out purpose, dazed by the scale of destructionthat altered the footprintand character of Cullman’s downtown inthe span of only aminute.

After about five minutes

of surreal calm, thesound of sirens shockedthe victims and onlook-ers into a more purpose-ful sort of action. Groupsof two or three — some

with tears streaming down their faces —

worked to lift masses of twisted sheet metal orcanvass residences forthe injured or, as many feared in the early after-math, the dead.In the midst of the rub-ble, others just walked.Beyond reactions of “Oh,

my God,” “Cullman’sgone,” and similar utter-ances of disbelief, most

were speechless.Many were jarred by thesight of bright orangespray markings, sostrongly identified in tel-evision images with thebody-recovery efforts of

workers to indicatestructures cleared of bodies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Oneobserver remarked, “Did

you ever think you’d see

that in Cullman?”In the block grid portionof the city, the tornado’spath appeared to cut aswath of all-out damageat least two blocks wideas it tracked from west toeast. While much of thecity was affected by straight-line winds asso-ciated with the storm,the touchdown pointappeared to extend fromFirst Baptist Churchalong U.S. Highway 31 asfar as East Side Baptistchurch along U.S.

Highway 278.The south-facing wall of First United Methodistchurch, a building direct-ly across the street fromthe offices of TheCullman Times, bore anunsettling resemblanceto a structure hollowedout by aerial bombing.Like others in the vicini-ty, Times employeesescaped injury by taking shelter in a secure por-tion of their workplace.Residences along Fourth

Street SE were torn apartand knocked off theirfoundations. The torna-do opened a new andunobstructed vista along the hilly street — one for-merly blocked by anabundance of trees.The landscape will bedifferent, and it will stay

that way even after allthe rebuilding is com-plete. First Baptist lostmuch of its steeple. TheCullman County court-house, already slated forrenovations to its marbleexterior cladding and

windows, lost half its roof and many of the win-dows that faced west.Businesses to the eastsuffered damage thatranged from severefacade shearing to out-right obliteration. The

two-story building thathouses popular homedecor shop Little Bit of Everything, as well asother businesses,appears now to kneel,stripped of its brick facade, instead of stand.That building, along withso many others nearby, is

structurally ruined. Someflattened businesses in

the area that once rose15 feet now barely meas-ure four or five feet tall.But, as so often seen inthe face of humantragedy, nearly everyone

who witnessed the City of Cullman’s introductionto a very different futuredemonstrated a near-instinctive display of determination. As one

woman surveyed thetransformed streetscape

along Third Avenue, sheoffered a promise to an

invisible audience:“We’ve got to come back strong.”

As evening approached,another concern arosedowntown as a policeofficer noted that somepeople had attempted toloot damaged stores.Efforts were under way toseal off the damagedareas and create a secureperimeter in the businesszone.

LOCAL CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011PAGE 5A | THE CULLMAN TIMES

TEARS. LOTS OF TEARS


Libby Coulter, 13, looks over her families car at their home in Hanceville Wednesday morning.


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SERVING ALL OF CULLMAN COUNTY The Cullman Times©2011, The Cullman Times

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011

NUMBER ONE PICK WATER QUALITY AU’s Cam Newton going to Carolina. 1B EMA: No problems found. 3B

50 Cents

Downtown Cullman is seen Thursday morning one day after severaltornadoes touched down in the area. See complete coverage inside.

Matt McKean/Times Daily

‘War Zone’


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By Trent MooreSTAFF WRITER

Less than 24 hours afterdowntown Cullman andareas of the county werehit by a wave of tornadoes,local residents and offi-cials spent Thursday sort-ing through debris and

making plans for recon-struction.

Two people were con-firmed dead in CullmanCounty — one inJohnson’s Crossing andanother on the easternside of the county — andnearly 100 injuries werereported in connection tothe storms. It is unknownexactly how many localresidents have been dis-placed.

“This is one of the worst disasters ever in theCity of Cullman, and it’sreally sad to see our down-

town like this,” CullmanMayor Max Townson said.“But, Cullman is a city of character … and I think

we can get this cleaned upand get through it. We’ll bemaking plans and working every day, because this isgoing to take time. It won’tbe in the blink of an eye.”

Numerous downtownbuildings, ranging fromBusy Bee Cafe to Rozar’sPaint Store, have all butbeen destroyed — along

with entire residentialblocks. The CullmanCounty Courthouse,

Cullman First UnitedMethodist Church, theCullman County RedCross, the Cullman Timesoffice and dozens of otherbuildings were also heavi-ly damaged.

“Downtown looksalmost like a war zone,”Cullman County Emergency Management

Agency Directo r PhyllisLittle said at a Thursday morning press confer-ence. “Cullman County took several hits, and theCity of Cullman took sev-eral hits. At this time we

do not have anyone miss-ing, and everyone whohad been reported hasbeen found.”

Alabama Gov. RobertBentley visited Cullmanon Thursday morning,and held a press confer-ence on the steps of thedamaged county court-house. Standing in front of

what was left of the build-ing’s marble facade,Bentley said aid is on the

way, and he has already been in touch withPresident Barack Obamaabout federal assistance.

“I have spoken with thepresident, and asked forhelp from the federal gov-ernment,” he said. “OnceFEMA looks at the state,there won’t be any ques-

tion that assistance isneeded … Any way I canhelp, we stand ready to dothat.”

Electrical power is outin virtually all of CullmanCounty, and that isexpected to be the case forbetween 7-9 days, due toheavy damage toTennessee Valley

Authority infrastructure.“This series of storms

caused major damage notonly to Cullman, but alsoacross North Alabama,”Cullman Power BoardManager Mike Manning said. “We’ve never experi-enced such widespreadoutages. We thought theice storm in 1993 was the

worst, but this has really raised the bar.”

Despite rumors to thecontrary, officials do notexpect water shortages,and EMA and city hall offi-

cials say there have beenno reports of contamina-tion in the local watersupply.

“We have two genera-tors on site for water …and we should essentially be able to run the stationon generators,” city waterdepartment managerDavid Freeman said.

Gas shortages were oneof the biggest problemsThursday according toCullman County Commission ChairmanJames Graves. who

warned if supplies aren’t

stabilized it could affectclean-up efforts.“We’re going to be in a

critical situation as far asfuel is concerned, andproviding to all emer-

gency agencies, it’s notgoing to last much longerif we don’t get any gas insoon,” he said. “The fuelsituation will reach a criti-cal stage in just a day ortwo, so we’ll need assis-tance soon.”

The eastern part of downtown Cullman,around Second Avenue SEand Third Avenue SE, hasbeen cordoned off by localpolice and the AlabamaNational Guard, and any-one attempting to enterthose areas must first pick up a pass from city hall. A curfew is also in effectacross the county fromdusk until dawn, exceptfor residents of houses inthose zones.

“There will be anabsolute curfew, because

we have power lines stilldangling and sharpdebris,” Cullman PoliceChief Kenny Culpeppersaid of the city’s lock-down. “We’re requiring anyone in those damagedareas to have a certificateof admittance. We’re notposting the houses off limits at night in thoseareas, because a lot of those folks just don’t haveanywhere to go.”

In Cullman County,Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Max Bartlett saiddeputies are continuing topatrol the area in anattempt to maintain

order.“The county received

widespread devastation,and we have implementedemergency 12-hourshifts,” he said. “We’re justtrying to continue run-ning calls, and we will vig-orously prosecute anyoneout looting or going onto

other people’s property.” With electr ical powerout, Cullman City Schools

will be shut down indefi-nitely. Cullman County schools will be closed forat least the rest of the

week, likely longer.Countywide, only

Hanceville High Schooland East Elementary School sustained signifi-cant damage, as mostcampuses survived rela-tively unscathed. A por-tion of the roof of theHanceville High gym waspeeled off, and the roof at

Eas t Elementary wasdamaged.

Cullman County Boardof EducationSuperintendent Billy Coleman said his staff istrying to make the best of the situation, and he hasreceived approval to usestored food immediately to feed the community.

“We contacted the fed-eral government aboutthe food in our coolers,and we’ll be able to usethat in our communities,because that’s a lot of foodthat could be used to feedpeople that would have

just gone bad,” he said.“We’re trying to coordi-nate sites with food tomake sure that’s used.”

With the downtownCullman County RedCross office scatteredalong Third Avenue SE,the agency has set up ashelter and operationalsite at the Cullman CivicCenter.

“We’ve had calls fromfolks running out of things

like baby formula, and water, and those are going to be big issues,” Littlesaid. “We’re working withthe state EMA to try andget water down here andnon-perishables, and theRed Cross has their shelterto help with that.”

Healthcare services inthe area haven’t been tooheavily affected, asCullman Regional MedicalCenter received only minor damage and is stillopen and seeing patients.

“The hospital was for-tunate not to take a directhit by any tornadoes,”hospital CEO Jim Weidnersaid. “Since we have gen-erators, we’re preparednow to try and reach outto other patients, likethose who may need oxy-gen … Fortunately, wehave a new emergency room that just opened afew months ago, and it

was designed to handle adisaster such as this.”

LOCALTHE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011 PAGE 3A

Reconstruction begins one dayafter tornadoes hit Cullman

MATT MCKEAN/TIMES DAILY

East Cullman Baptist Church along Hwy 278 is shown flattened.


Search and rescue workers and dogs walk past The Cullman Times office on their way to search homes destroyed in Wednesday’s tornadoes.


9/72

By Trent Moore

STAFF WRITER

Wit h downt own

Cullman and CullmanCounty still reeling after

being hit by tornadoes Wedn esday, off ici als

wan t res idents to beaware of some basi c

information as clean-up

efforts begin:

* The eastern part of downtown Cullman,

around Second Avenue

SE and Third Avenue SE,has been locked down

by local authorities forrepair crews. Anyone

entering those areas will

need a pass, which canbe obtained at city hall.

* A curfew is in effect

indefinitely across

Cullman County fromdusk until dawn.

* If traffic lights are

not working, all inter-

sections should be treat-ed as a four-way stop.

* The Cullman County

Red Cross is now operat-ing out of the Cullman

Civic Center in down-

town, as the agency’sdowntown office was

destroyed.

* Electrical service in

Cullman County couldpotentially remain down

for between 7-9 daysdue to damage to

Tennessee Valley

Authority infrastr uctu re.

* Cullman City

Schools are closedindefinitely due to

power outages and dam-age to the East

Elementary School roof.

Cullman County schoolsa re c lo se d f or t he

remainder of the week.

* All resi dent s areencouraged to use water

sparingly until services

are restored. Generatorsare in place at the city

pumping station, andofficials do not expect

outages — but everyoneis encouraged to ration

as much as possible to

ensure water remainsavailable. Rumors that

the water supply has

been contaminated arenot true, according tocity hall officials.

* Author ities a sk everyone to remain at

home and stay off theroads to allow easier

access for emergency vehicles. Rubbernecking

is discouraged.

* As of Thursday

evening, the list of open

businesses compiled by the City of Cullman

includes: Food World,Piggly Wiggly, B&B

Petroleum, and the

Catoma Mart.

* A burn ban has beenissued in the City of

Cullman, and all resi-dents are asked not to

burn debris. Instead,

pile it at the edge of theroad, and sanitation

crews will start running as soon as possible.

* Cullman Regional

Medical Center is open

and accepting patients. Anyone with a fri end or

family member in needof electricity for an oxy-

gen machine can beadmitted there, or to the

old Woodland Hospital,

which has been rente dand opened temporarily

by USA Healthcare.

LOCAL THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011PAGE 4A

Donna SueSwindle Bates

Funeral services forDonna Sue Swindle Bates,58, of Cullman will be at 2p.m. Friday, April 29, 2011,at Moss-Service FuneralHome Chapel, GlennPosey officiating, withburial in Cullman City Cemetery.

Moss-Service FuneralHome is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Bates died Sunday, April 24, at CullmanRegional Medical Center.

Visitation will be from 6

to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Delores RodgersWeldon

Funeral services forDelores Rodgers Weldon,65, of Arley will be at 11a.m. Friday, April 29, 2011,at Cullman Funeral Home

Chapel, the Rev. DavidMcGowin officiating, withburial in Fairview Methodist Cemetery.

Cullman Funeral Homeis in charge of arrange-ments.

Mrs. Weldon died Wednesday, April 27, atPine Place Assisted Living in Arley.

Visitation will be from5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday atthe funeral home.

OBITUARIES

Second local fatalityreported from storm

Cullman County coroner

Steve Rodgers has reported a

second fatality due to the round

of severe storms that devastated

the county Wednesday.

Loyd Winford Harris, a 69- year-old Simcoe resident, wasfound several yards from his res-idence after apparently being picked up and thrown by a tor-nado that ripped through thearea.

Rescue crews and the man’s

neighbors were able to search

for him in moments that they were not forced to take coverfrom following occurrences of severe weather, but were unableto locate his body for severalhours, according to Rodgers.

Destruction in the area, com-parable to the utter mayhem in

the City of Cullman and several

other parts of the community

has left rescue crews scouring

residences to ensure that no

individuals are still trapped in

their homes or businesses.

These two deaths in Cullman

County are added to the growing

statewide death toll of over 180.

FATALITY BRIEF

NEED TO KNOW


Residents walk along Third Avenue Wednesday afternoon.

Curfew in effect across county,some stores open around city

YOU READ ITFIRST ONLINE

CULLMANTIMES.COM


10/72

LOCALTHE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011 PAGE 3B

By Benjamin BullardSTAFF WRITER

County authorities saidThursday a rumor that the

Cullman County water depart-ment would shut off water tomost of its customers becauseof problems at the City of Cullman’s waste water treat-ment plant is simply that — arumor.

“Please, tell people we arenot going to shut the water off,”said a vexed Phyllis Little,already occupied with a multi-tude of real concerns as thecounty’s Emergency

Management Agency director.“I’ve heard that several times

today, and at no time did I or acommissioner or anyone elsesay that we were going to cut the

water off. That is completely false,” said Little. “We are trying to advise people to be conserva-tive, because we want a suffi-cient water level in our storagetanks, but that is all. Just don’tgo outside and water the yardand wash the dog — be conser-vative.”

The need to conserve waterstems from a brief outage at thetreatment plant, which treats allthe drinking water the Cullman

County’s water department sellsto its retail customers. The vio-lent storm that spawned a dead-ly tornado Wednesday after-noon in Cullman knocked out

power at the plant, which inturn led to a reduction in the

water levels at holding tanksthroughout the county, butLittle said two generators hadsince been installed at the plantto bring treatment operationsback online.

“For a while there we wereneeding to keep as much wateras we could because we didn’tknow exactly when the plant

would come back up, and for

that time — if all the water you’ve got is in a can, you don’t waste it.”

Associate county commis-sioner Darrell Hicks said late

Thursday he’d received many inquiries throughout the day about water shortage concerns.He was adamant that those beput to rest.

“I don’t know how that gotstarted, but you know how rumors are,” he said. “We’re notshutting the water down. We’vegot plenty of water.”

Hicks and the county’s othercommissioners met in an emer-gency meeting Thursday to

authorize Cullman County sher-iff Mike Rainey to institute adawn-to-dusk curfew county-

wide so that emergency response teams and utility

crews could work unobstructed,as well as reducing the risk of injury to those who wander intoareas devastated by the storms.

The City of Cullman already operates under an absolute cur-few in the four-block downtownarea where the tornado didmuch of its damage. That meansno one can be admitted into thearea at any time, day or night,

without a pass issued by author-ities.

EMA: Nothing wrong with water

TRENT MOORE/THE CULLMAN TIMES

From left, State Rep. Jeremy Oden, gov. Robert Bentley and Congressman Robert Aderholt are seen in front of theCullman County Courthouse prior to a press conference discussing Wednesday's tornadoes.

AFTERMATH


The interior of The Cullman Times is shown after the business was damaged byWednesday's tornadoes. Without power, editorial staff are working outside are surround-

ing hot spots. Staff traveled to The Times Daily in Florence, Ala. late Wednesday night topublish a brief print edition. Carriers are attempting to deliver some papers and fill boxesaround Cullman.


11/72

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — Firefighterssearched one splinteredpile after another for sur-vivors Thursday, combing the remains of houses andneighborhoods pulver-ized by the nation's dead-liest tornado outbreak in

almost four decades. Atleast 280 people werekilled across six states —more than two-thirds of them in Alabama, wherelarge cities bore the half-mile-wide scars thetwisters left behind.

The death toll from Wednesday's stormsseems out of a bygone era,before Doppler radar andpinpoint satellite fore-casts were around to warncommunities of severe

weather. Residents weretold the tornadoes werecoming up to 24 minutes

ahead of time, but they were just too wide, toopowerful and too lockedonto populated areas toavoid a horrifying body count.

"These were the mostintense super-cell thun-derstorms that I think anybody who was outthere forecasting has everseen," said meteorologistGreg Carbi n at theNational WeatherService's Storm PredictionCenter in Norman, Okla.

"If you experienced adirect hit from one of these, you'd have to be ina reinforced room, stormshelter or underground"to survive, Carbin said.

The storms seemed tohug the interstate high-

ways as they barreledalong like runaway trucks,obliterating neighbor-hoods or even entiretowns from Tuscaloosa toBristol, Va. One family rode out the disaster inthe basement of a funeralhome, another by hud-dling in a tanning bed.

In Concord, a smalltown outside Birminghamthat was ravaged by a tor-nado, Randy Guyton'sfamily got a phone callfrom a friend warning them to take cover. They rushed to the basementgarage, piled into a HondaRidgeline and listened tothe roar as the twisterdevoured the house inseconds. Afterward, they saw daylight through theshards of their home andscrambled out.

"The whole housecaved in on top of thatcar," he said. "Other thanmy boy screaming to theLord to save us, being in

that car is what saved us."Son Justin remembers

the dingy white cloudmoving quickly towardthe house.

"To me it sounded likedestruction," the 22-year-old said. "It was a mean,mean roar. It was awful."

At least three peopledied in a Pleasant Grovesubdivision southwest of Birmingham, where resi-dents trickled back Thursday to survey thedamage. Greg Harrison'sneighborhood was some-how unscathed, but he

remains haunted by the wind, thunder and light-ning as they built to acrescendo, then suddenly stopped.

"Sick is what I feel," hesaid. "This is what you seein Oklahoma and Kansas.Not here. Not in theSouth."

Alabama Gov. RobertBentley said his state hadconfirmed 194 deaths.There were 33 deaths inMississippi, 33 inTennessee, 14 in Georgia,five in Virginia and one inKentucky. Hundreds if not

thousands of people wereinjured — 600 inTuscaloosa alone.

Some of the worstdamage was about 50miles southwest of

Pleasant Grove inTuscaloosa, a city of morethan 83,000 that is hometo the University of

Alabama. The stormsdestroyed the city's emer-gency management cen-ter, so the school's Bryant-Denny Stadium wasturned into a makeshiftone. School officials saidtwo students were killed,

though they did not say how they died. Finals werecanceled and commence-ment was postponed.

A tower-mounted newscamera there capturedimages of an astonishing-ly thick, powerful tornadoflinging debris as it leveledneighborhoods.

That twister and others Wednesday were severaltimes more severe than atypical tornado, which ishundreds of yards wide,has winds around 100mph and stays on theground for a few miles,

said research meteorolo-gist Harold Brooks at theStorm Prediction Center.

"There's a pretty goodchance some of these

were a mile wide, on theground for tens of milesand had wind speeds over200 mph," he said.

The loss of life is thegreatest from an outbreak of U.S. tornadoes since

April 1974, when 329 peo-ple were killed by a stormthat swept across 13Southern and Midwesternstates.

Brooks said the torna-

do that struck Tuscaloosacould be an EF5 — thestrongest category of tor-nado, with winds of morethan 200 mph — and wasat least the second-high-est category, an EF4.

Search and rescueteams fanned out to dig through the rubble of dev-astated communities thatbore eerie similarities tothe Gulf Coast afterHurricane Katrina in 2005,

when town after town lay flattened for nearly 90miles.

In Phil Campbell, a

small town of 1,000 innorthwest Alabama where26 people died, the gro-cery store, gas stationsand medical clinic weredestroyed by a tornado

that Mayor Jerry Maysestimated was a half-mile

wide and traveled some 20miles.

"We've lost everything.Let's just say it like it is,"Mays said. "I'm afraid wemight have some suicidesbecause of this."

President Barack Obama said he wouldtravel to Alabama on

Friday to view storm dam-age and meet Gov. RobertBentley and affected fami-lies. As many as a millionhomes and businessesthere were without power,and Bentley said 2,000National Guard troopshad been activated tohelp. The governors of Mississippi and Georgiaalso issued emergency declarations for parts of their states.

"We can't control whenor where a terrible stormmay strike, but we cancontrol how we respond

to it," Obama said. "And I want every American whohas been affected by thisdisaster to know that thefederal government willdo everything we can tohelp you recover and we

will stand with you as yourebuild."

The storm predictioncenter said it received 164tornado reports aroundthe region, but some tor-nadoes were probably reported multiple timesand it could take days toget a final count.

In fact, Brooks said 50

to 60 reports — from theMississippi-Alabama line,through Tuscaloosa andBirmingham and intoGeorgia and southwesternTennessee — might endup being a single tornado.If that's true its path

would be one of thelongest on record for atwister, rivaling a 1925 tor-nado that raged for 219miles.

Brooks said the weath-er service was able to pro-vide about 24 minutes'notice before the twisters

hit."It was a well-forecast-

ed event," Brooks said."People were talking about this week being abig week a week ago."

Gov. Bentley said fore-casters did a good jobalerting people, butthere's only so much they can do to help people pre-pare.

Carbin, the meteorolo-gist, noted that the warn-ing gave residents enoughtime to hunker down, butnot enough for them tosafely leave the area.

"You've got half anhour to evacuate thenorth side of Tuscaloosa.How do you do that and

when do you do that?Knowing there's a tornadoon the ground right now and the conditions inadvance of it, you may inadvertently put peoplein harm's way," he said.

Officials said at least 13

died in Smithville, Miss., where devastating windsripped open the policestation, post office, city hall and an industrial park

with several furniture fac-tories. Pieces of tin weretwined high around thelegs of a blue water tower,and the Piggly Wiggly gro-cery store was gutted.

"It's like the town is justgone," said 24-year-oldJessica Monaghan, wiping away tears as she toted 9-month-old son SladeScott. The baby's father,Tupelo firefighter Tyler

Scott, was at work whenthe warning came on theTV.

"It said be ready in 10minutes, but about thattime, it was there,"Monaghan said. She,Slade and the family's catsurvived by hiding in acloset.

At Smithville Cemetery,even the dead were notspared: Tombstones dat-ing to the 1800s, including some of Civil War soldiers,lay broken on the ground.Brothers Kenny and Paul

Long dragged their youngest brother's head-stone back to its properplace.

Unlike many neighbor-ing towns, Kenny Long said, Smithville had nostorm shelter.

"You have warnings,"Long said, "but where do

you go?"Some fled to the sturdy

center section of Smithville Baptist Church.Pastor Wes White said they clung to each other andanything they couldreach, a single "mass of humanity" as the building disintegrated aroundthem.

The second story isgone, the walls collapsed,but no one there was seri-ously hurt. The choirrobes remained in place,perfectly white.

Seven people werekilled in Georgia'sCatoosa County, including

Ringgold, where a sus-pected tornado flattenedabout a dozen buildingsand trapped an unknownnumber of people.

"It happened so fast Icouldn't think at all," saidTom Rose, an Illinois truck driver whose vehicle wasblown off the road at I-75North in Ringgold, nearthe Tennessee line.

Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers said severalresidential areas had"nothing but foundationsleft," and that some peo-ple reported missing had

yet to be found.In Trenton, Ga., nearly two dozen people took shelter in an AceHardware store, including a couple walking by whenan employee emerged andtold them to take coverimmediately.

Lisa Rice, owner of S&LTans in Trenton, survivedby climbing into a tanning bed with her two daugh-ters. Stormy, 19, and Sky,21.

"We got in it and closedit on top of us," Rice said.

"Sky said, 'We're going todie.' But, I said, 'No, justpray. Just pray, just pray,

just pray.'"For 30 seconds, wind

rushed around the bedand debris flew as windtore off the roof.

"Then it just stopped. Itgot real quiet. We waited afew minutes and thenopened up the bed and we

saw daylight," she said.The badly damaged

Moore Funeral Home,meanwhile, sheltered the

woman who cleans Larry Moore's family business.

When the first of threestorms hit and uprootedtrees in her yard, she fig-ured the funeral home

would be a safer place forher two children. As shin-gles began sailing past the

window, she headed forthe basement.

"That's what saved her,I guess," Moore said. "It

was over in just a matter of seconds. She called 911and emergency crews hadto help her get out."

The storm systemspread destruction fromTexas to New York, wheredozens of roads wereflooded or washed out.

In a large section of eastern Tennessee, offi-cials were looking for sur-vivors and assessing dam-age. In hard-hit Apison, anunincorporated commu-nity near the Georgia stateline where eight peopledied, about 150 volunteers

helped with the search.It was unclear how high

the death toll could rise.In Mississippi, Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson and acrew of deputies andinmates searched the rub-ble, recovering five bodiesand marking homes thatstill had bodies inside

with two large orange Xs."I've never seen any-

thing like this," Johnsonsaid. "This is something that no one can preparefor."

REGIONAL THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011PAGE 4B

ASSOCIATED PRESS

People reclaim some of their belongings in the Alberta City neighborhood Thursday April 28, 2011, after a tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Ala. the daybefore. Massive tornadoes tore a town-flattening streak across the South, killing at least 269 people in six states and forcing rescuers to carry some sur-vivors out on makeshift stretchers of splintered debris.

Tornadoes devastateSouth, killing at least 280

SEVERE WEATHER


12/72

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Thedevastating tornadoes

that swept across Alabama and othersouthern states

Wednesday caused wide-spread power outages,shut down several largemanufacturing plantsand could disrupt theregion's fragile economicrecovery.

Most economists say the setback will likely betemporary. Martin Soler,an associate economist atMoody's Analytics, said

Alabama's economy wasalready struggling torecover from the reces-

sion and the storms willprobably set it back fur-ther. The state's unem-ployment rate was 9.2percent in March, abovethe national rate of 8.8percent.

As rebuilding begins,though, the state shouldbenefit.

Boeing Co., NorthropGrumman Corp., ToyotaMotor Co. and Mercedessaid they have idledplants in Alabama, most-ly because the factorieshave lost powe r. Theplants generally weren'tdamaged by the stormsand will likely reopenafter a few days.

In the past decade,many overseas auto com-panies have set up shopin southern states,including Alabama,South Carolina andTennessee. Those plants,in turn, have spawnednetworks of parts suppli-ers located nearby. If those parts suppliers arebadly damaged, auto pro-duction in the regioncould face a longer dis-

ruption. Most of the com-panies were still checking on their suppliersThursday.

The tornado damagecompounds troubles for

the auto industry, whichis already experiencing parts shortages from fac-tories in Japan that were

damaged by the March 11earthquake and tsunami.But automakers can

sustain several days oreven a week or two of lostproduction without a hitto sales. That's becausemost of them have carsand trucks stocked ondealer lots, said MichaelRobinet, an auto industry analyst for the consulting firm IHS Automotive.

After power is restoredor damaged factories arerepaired, automakers canrebuild inventoriesquickly, Robinet said.

Managers at theMercedes-Benz factory inTuscaloosa County, Ala.,decided to stop car andtruck production andsend workers home

Wednesday night so they could help friends andfamily members deal

with the tornado damage,said Felyicia Jerald,spokeswoman for the fac-tory about 30 miles fromTuscaloosa.

"There's just a lot of damage in the area as a

whole. We just thought it

was approp riate to dothat," Jerald said.

The 4 million-square-foot plant had only minorsiding and roof damage,and trees on the site weredowned, but it did notlose power and could stillproduce vehicles, Jeraldsaid.

However, parts supply companies in the area are

without electr icity, so thecompany plans to keepthe factory closed untilMonday. Mercedes wasstill assessing whether

parts supply factories hadbeen damaged.The factory employs

about 3,000 people whomake the M and GL ClassSUVs and R Class wagons.

A Toyota Motor Co.engine plant inHuntsville, Ala., whichemploys about 800 peo-

ple, shut down last nightand will stay closedthrough Friday, a compa-ny spokesman said. Thefactory itself didn't sus-tain any damage, thespokesman, Mike Goss,said.

Defense contractorNorthrop Grumman hasclosed two facilities inHuntsville, which is in thenorthern part of the state.Randy Belote, aspokesman for the com-pany, said they haven'treceived any reports of damage but closed themdue to power outages and

water shutoffs.The company employs

several hundred peoplein the region, some of

whom have damage dhomes, Belote said, mak-ing it hard for them tocome to work. Still, heexpects the facilities willreopen in a "matter of days."

A Boeing fact ory inHuntsville was also shutdown due to power out-ages "until furthernotice," a spokeswoman

said.Honda Motor Co. and

Hyundai Motor Co. bothhave huge factories in thestate that haven't beenaffected. But Sara Pines, aHonda spokeswoman,said the company is stillchecking on the status of its suppliers. The compa-ny's plant in Lincoln, Ala.,east of Birmingham,makes the Odyssey mini-van, Pilot SUV and othermodels and employs4,500 people. It's already

operating at less than fullcapacity due to partsshortages from Japan.

Separately, Alabama's

agriculture commissionersaid the tornadoes andstorms caused multi-mil-lion-dollar damage to thepoultry industry in north

Alabama.Commissioner John

McMillan said about 200p oult ry h ouses were

destroyed and another180 damaged. A standardpoultry house can holdabout 20,000 chickens.

And hundreds of smallbusinesses were damagedor destroyed inTuscaloosa, Ala., where amassive tornado hit thecity's business district.

"It's just unrecogniz-able," said Robin Jenkins,communications director

for the Chamber of

Commerce of West

Alabama, which is based

in the city. "The whole

cityscape down there has

just totally changed."

Still, Alabama should

get a boost from con-

struction spending on

rebuilding and possible

federal aid.

NATIONTHE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011 PAGE 5B

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Exxon madealmost $11 billion and practi-cally apologized for it.

Sensing public outrage overgasoline prices that havetopped $4 in some states, thecompany struck a defensiveposture Thursday after posting some of its best quarterly finan-cial results ever.

Exxon said it had no controlover high oil prices. It said it'sone of the biggest taxpayers inthe United States. It cast federalsubsidies as "legitimate tax pro-visions" that keep jobs at home,and cast itself as a victim of

Washington scapegoating."They feel they have to

demonize our industry," saidKen Cohen, Exxon's vice presi-dent for public affairs.

What's more, the company argued, it doesn't even makethat much money selling gaso-line.

Exxon's profit of $10.65 bil-lion for the first quarter was its

highest since it made $14.83 bil-lion in the third quarter of 2008,a record for a publicly tradedcompany. That was also a timeof $4-plus gas.

The first-quarter results werealso the best among the big oilcompanies, which have report-ed improved results this week.

As oil company profitsapproach levels of three yearsago, when gas prices last spikedin the United States, the indus-try is fighting a renewed pushfrom President Barack Obamaand Democrats to end its $4 bil-lion a year in taxpayer subsi-

dies.This week, the industry's

lobbying group touted the 9.2million jobs that depend on Big Oil and rolled out a study show-ing that oil and gas stocks areexcellent investments for publicpension plans.

Before it even came out withthe quarterly results, Exxonpleaded its case on a company blog, saying it was not to blamefor high gas prices.

Then Cohen took an unusualstep and spoke to reportersafter Exxon reported the big profits. He said Exxon paysmore taxes than any other com-pany in the Standard & Poor's500 index — $59 billion in theUnited States over the past five

years. After taxes, the company

earned $41 billion from U.S.operations during that period.

Drivers and politicians may still need some convincing. Gascosts more than $4 a gallon ineight states and the District of Columbia. The national average

is $3.89 and has risen for 37straight days.

At a time when most peoplearen't getting raises, gas hasrisen 81 cents a gallon this year.High gas prices ate into thenation's overall economicgrowth in the first three monthsof this year. The economy grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate,slower than the 3.1 percent atthe end of last year.

Cohen has a point that Exxondoesn't control the price of oilor gasoline. Oil is traded aroundthe world on public exchanges,and experts point out that the

world is consuming more oilnow than it did before therecession, raising demand.

When oil prices go up at theexchange, Exxon sells oil formore money to refiners andother buyers.

Gasoline is made from oil. So while gas prices can rise and fallbased on other factors, likerefining problems or naturaldisasters, they generally go upas oil prices rise on the New

York Mercantile Exchange.Exxon noted that only 6 per-

cent of its profit came fromrefining and selling gas in theUnited States. Other parts of itsbusiness, like selling oil andnatural gas overseas, accountedfor much more.

Argus Research analyst Phil Weiss finds that argument rea-sonable. But oil companies willstruggle to win over people aslong as they're making billionsof dollars every quarter, he said.

"They get these high profitsand people get upset. That's

what politicians respond to,"

Weiss said.House Democratic leader

Nancy Pelosi called for a voteon ending taxpayer subsidies tooil companies next week."There is no reason Americantaxpayers should subsidize Big Oil's profits," Pelosi said.

The tax provisions at issueinclude some rules put in placeas long ago as 1913 and morerecent ones designed toencourage companies to investin the United States.

For instance, a 2004 rule thatgives oil and other companies aspecial deduction for their U.S.

operations could save the oilindustry $18.2 billion over 10

years. A rule that allows fasterdepreciation of the value of oiland gas wells could save inde-pendent companies — thosethat only explore and produceoil but don't refine it — about$11 billon over a decade.

Exxon officials said it wouldbe unfair for Obama to end oilsubsidies while keeping similarincentives for renewable ener-gy. The Obama administrationand clean energy advocatesargue that profitable compa-nies do not need special tax treatment while newer indus-tries deserve breaks until they can establish themselves.

It's not likely, though, thatExxon would give up its subsi-dies if the government alsoremoved them for solar, windand other renewables.

"Getting into trade-offs isnot really helpful," Exxon VicePresident Bill Colton said.

Environmental groups say the industry needs no taxpayer

help."Why does an industry that

makes this much money need$4 billion in tax subsidies?"asked Bob Keefe, spokesmanfor the Natural ResourcesDefense Council. "Why can't weuse that tax money to improveand expand other alternatives,increase vehicle efficiency, bet-ter public transportation that

would reduce our dependenceon oil?"

Exxon counters that the gov-ernment shouldn't decide

which energy companies suc-ceed and which fail. Whichever

fuel source "produces thebiggest bang for the buck forthe consumer" will be the onethe market settles on, Cohensaid.

The main reason the indus-try is doing well is that oil prices

were up 20 percent from thesame period last year. Exxon'sprofit was 69 percent higherthan the $6.3 billion it earned a

year earlier. Revenue increased26 percent, to $114 billion.

The rise in oil prices allowedExxon to make more money despite producing 3 percentless oil overseas, about 2 mil-lion barrels per day, partly because of storms in the MiddleEast. Exxon sold crude in inter-national markets for about $101a barrel, up 36 percent from a

year ago. In the U.S., Exxon soldoil for about $93 per barrel, up27 percent from a year ago.

Exxon's per-share earningsof $2.14 beat Wall Street esti-mates by 10 cents, but oilindustry stocks fell anyway because investors fear that

demand for gas, which has fall-en over the past month com-pared with last year, will keepdropping in the United States.

Exxon Mobil Corp. shareslost 94 cents to $86.84 in after-noon trading.

The company has increas-ingly focused on producing nat-ural gas, which it expects toreplace coal as the second mostimportant fuel source afterpetroleum within the nextdecade. Last year it acquired

XTO Energy to become thelargest U.S. natural gas produc-er.

FINANCIAL

Somewhat sheepishly,

Exxon makes $11 billion

Tornadoes shut Mercedes,other southern automakers


13/72

LO CAL THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011PAGE 6A

By Sam Rolleyand Benjamin BullardSTAFF WRITERS

The City of Cullman, wrought

with destruction by a round of storms that tore through theentire county and most of North

Alabama throughout the day Wednesday, looked shatteredThursday morning.

Dazed by the sheer destruc-tion and putting aside emotionin an attempt to locate posses-sions in the scattered rubblethat lined the city's streets, resi-dents in the area did everything they could to clean up debris.The task in many cases seemedso overwhelming that some saton sidewalks staring in disbelief at the places where they had

worked each day — many for

decades.Bo Waldrop would have soon

celebrated the 50th anniversary of his business at the East SideBarbershop, located in one his-torical Cullman strip mall in thedowntown district.

"We've been here since thebuildings on this block werebuilt, we have been featuredbefore by a couple of magazinesfor being a good old fashionedbarbershop," said Waldrop, whooperates the business with hisson Scott. "But, the place isgone now. We're going to sal-vage what we can from the junk and try to rebuild."

Waldrop and his employees were able to take refuge and warn others on the block to dothe same before the main por-tion of the tornado made its way through the area.

Kitty Spears, who owns Busy Bee Cafe a few doors down from

Waldrop's shop, elected to stay in the store when the tornadohit and was severely injured

when debris from the stormdestroyed her restaurant.Family members report that she

was hospitalized after suffering a broken pelvis and severalother injuries resulting from thebuilding's collapse.

"I'm glad she's doing okay now; they're saying that she

ought to be able to get home toheal soon," said her husbandSteve as he stood atop a pile of rubble — once a belovedCullman establishment. "We'regoing to have to get this allcleaned up, help her heal up,and then rebuild and and try toget back together."

A few blocks over, AndreaMeherg stood balanced on apile of destroyed masonry in thedoorway of her husbandHeath's new law office, dragging out debris in an attempt to gainentrance.

"He just moved his things inlast Friday, and now it'sdestroyed," she said. "But lucki-

ly he was out of the office whenit hit."

Her husband, she said, wasscouring the area on the otherside of the building in anattempt to locate a picture of their child that had decoratedthe office.

Those who had a sparemoment in the downtown area,

which city police had closed toanyone without a department-issued credential, sharedaccounts of how they and otherssurvived the storm.

"We were here only eight

minutes before," said CottonStates Insurance agent LeePowell, who escaped his dual-

function loft home and down-stairs business with his wife andtwo year-old child. "We usually don't go to a shelter when a tor-nado happens, but for somereason, we did this time."

Cullman Fire Chief JuniorReinhardt said one personcaught in the tornado escapedinjury by grabbing a utility pole

just outside another demol-ished business, Bryant Heating and Cooling. The unidentifiedman's body, said Reinhardt,"was flapping like a flag in the

wind" before a momentary lullafforded him just enough time

to dive headfirst through a plateglass windowand into the store-

front, incredibly escaping injury as roof and facade of the two-story cinderblock building crumbled on top of him.

At the destroyed ChristCovenant Lutheran church, agroup of volunteers dug through a mess where, during less trying times, worship wasthe focus. Remarkably, as they

worked to clear debris, they were able to salvage a Holy Biblefrom Germany, circa 1798. As agroup of individuals left toreturn to their own problems —each massive on a personal anda community scale — one

bystander remarked, "Goodluck — the Lord will provide."

Downtown staples dealing with loss

SAM ROLLEY/THE CULLMAN TIMES

Several old businesses in downtown Cullman were destroyed in Wednesday’s tornadoes.


14/72

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — Threepeople have been arrest-ed in a security clamp-down related to Prince

Willi am's weddi ng toKate Middleton, police

said Thursday.The arrests come asBritain's police forcegears up for a modernsecurity nightmare inFriday's event at

Westminster Abbey, with5,000 officers on duty tolook out for everything from Irish dissident ter-rorists, Muslim extrem-ists, anti-monarchists,protesters and ordinary riffraff who might blightthe royal spectacle.

Scotland Yard said offi-cers detained three indi-viduals in south LondonThursday evening on sus-picion of conspiracy tocause public nuisanceand breach of the peace.The suspects — two men,aged 68 and 45, and a 60-

year old woman —remain in custody at alocal police station, theMetropolitan Police said.

The police declined togive further details, say-ing it believed thosearrested were planning toattend the royal wedding and that 19 other arrestsnot specifically related tothe event were made inLondon earlier in the day.

Police have been plan-

ning the security opera-tion around the wedding since William's engage-ment to Middleton wasannounced in November.

Earlier this week,Scotland Yard PoliceCommander Christine

Jones said there has beenno new terror threat toLondon around the royal

weddin g but consider-able Internet chatter.

"Our operation hasbeen meticulously planned, and we havethought through andplanned for a huge rangeof contingencies," shesaid.

Thousands of peopleare expected along theparade route, a snaking path of less than a mile(two kilometers) from theabbey — an iconic cathe-dral near London's Big Ben and Parliamentbuildings — toBuckingham Palace,

where the new royal cou-ple will appear on thebalcony for one of themost anticipated kisses indecades.

A wide range of police will be on patrol Friday:officers on motorcycles,escort specialists, dog handlers, search officers,mounted police, protec-tion officers and firearmsunits, although only afraction of Britain'spolice officers are armed.Security around

London's subway net- work will be boost ed, while policing atHeathrow, Europe'sbusiest airport, will be asnormal.

Britain has seen sever-al major terror attacks

and plots since the Sept.11 terror attacks in 2001.The deadliest came in2005, when homegrownterrorists killed 52 com-muters during London'srush hour — Europe'sfirst suicide bombing. In2006, terrorists in Britaintried to down severaltrans-Atlantic airlinersusing liquid explosives.The following year, twomajor terror plots werethwarted outside aLondon nightclub and atan airport in Scotland.

London has also seenlarge protests recently against the Conservative-led government's austeri-ty plans, which aim to cut310,000 government jobsand sharply hike univer-sity tuition fees. PrinceCharles and his wifeCamilla were shaken up

when their car wasattacked in December

when a student protestturned violent.

A group calle dMuslims AgainstCrusades said Wednesday they wouldn't protest the

weddin g but urgedMuslims to stay away from central London and

public transport becauseof the possibility of anattack. Leader Asad Ullahsaid the warning was gen-eral and not based on any intelligence.

Many Muslims havevoiced anger over

Britain's involvement inthe Iraq war and the factthat Prince William's

young er brothe r Harry served in Afghanistan.

Prince Harry will be thebest man at the wedding.

British police havespecial stop-and-searchpowers now if they think people in the crowds arecarrying something sus-picious. Some 60 people

have already beenbanned from the paraderoute Friday and bothuniformed and undercov-er officers will be in the

crowds or on rooftops.The wedding guests —

kings and queens, sportsand entertainmentcelebrities, charity work-ers, RAF pilots, andfriends and family of theroyals — will have their

identification checkedand go through a security screening before entering the abbey.

NEWS THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011PAGE 6B

UK police: 3 arrests around royal weddingENGLAND

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — It's a sightmany Americans would surely love to see: a recovering Rep.Gabrielle Giffords watching asher astronaut husband blasts off into space.

But it's unlikely they will seeit. Giffords will attend Friday'sspace shuttle launch in Floridabut watch in private, and herstaff says there are no plans torelease photos of her, thoughthat could change.

Why is the congresswoman, whose recovery from cata-strophic wounds has inspired somany, being kept out of publicview?

First of all, it's long-standing NASA policy for all relatives at ashuttle launch. "It's just for pri-

vacy," said spokeswomanNicole Cloutier-Lemasters atKennedy Space Center at CapeCanaveral. "They are here in aprivate capacity."

Sometimes family memberschoose independently to makethemselves available, she said,but most decide not to.

"They're not the spotlight,"added space center spokesman

Allard Beutel. "They're not thepublic figure."

Of course, Giffords is a spe-cial case. There's extraordinary public interest in her progresssince that horrific Jan. 8 assassi-nation attempt in Tucson, Ariz.,and in the simultaneous story of

husband Mark Kelly's journey

into space — a life-vs.-careerdilemma like no other.

Details about Giffords' con-dition in the 3? months sinceshe took a bullet to the headhave been sparse. There havebeen no photos showing herface. A grainy video image pur-porting to show her slowly climbing stairs to board theplane for Florida earlier this

week was the most visible andhopeful sign yet of her improve-ment.

Few would argue with apatient's right to privacy, even apublic figure and officeholderlike Giffords. But her neurosur-geon, Dr. Michael Lemole,added another dimension to theprivacy argument when askedrecently if it wouldn't be benefi-cial for the public to see the

effects of the shooting."I understand that would beuseful to the public, but I alsounderstand that a picture is

worth a thousand words, and with those words would comerampant speculation," he toldthe Association of Health CareJournalists earlier this month."If you release one picture, peo-ple start speculating on what

you will or won't do, on what you can or can't do."

Lemole, of University Medical Center in Tucson,added that when he performsbrain surgery, the patient may have a swollen eye at the begin-ning and a bruise at threemonths, and then, at six

months, look like someone whonever had brain surgery at all.

"Perhaps the congresswoman, after all is said anddone, after she recovers as wellas she will, may release (photos)as sort of a retrospective docu-mentary, and maybe that wouldbe valuable," he said. But that,he made clear, lies well into thefuture.

Giffords had a piece of herskull removed shortly after theshooting to allow room for brainswelling and has been wearing ahelmet adorned with an Arizonastate flag. Doctors said they expect to reattach the piece inMay.

Earlier this week, The Arizona Republic quoted herstaff as saying she speaks in sin-gle words or simple declarative

phrases, she has short hair withscars showing through, and herface is sometimes swollen butbasically looks the same. Thoseclose to her also said she canstand on her own and walk a lit-tle.

The congresswoman arrivedin Cape Canaveral on

Wednesday, leaving behind theHouston hospital where she hasbeen undergoing rehab for thepast three months. When she

watches the shuttle Endeavourlift off Friday afternoon, it willsurely be her husband's lastmission in space. NASA is retir-ing the shuttles with one finalflight in June.

"It's something she's been

looking forward to for a long time," Kelly said of his wife'strip. "She's more than medically ready to be here."

Since the congresswoman'sarrival, her whereabouts havebeen kept secret. A staff mem-ber said in a Twitter updateThursday morning that Giffords

was enjoying Florida and "allthe space action."

Giffords also was believed tohave attended Wednesday night's family barbecue, aclosed-door event.

NASA officials said they stilldidn't know where Giffords orPresident Obama — and his

wife and two daughters — would view the launch. Thecongresswoman was expectedto be in the general area of thepresidential entourage.

Online, there seemed little if any criticism of the decision toshield Giffords from view.

"She should NOT be exposedto the public if she doesn't feelcomfortable with it — it shouldbe her decision!" Nancy Younce

Volmer, a retired universi ty administrator who lives in

Warsaw, Ky., wrote in a typicalcomment on Facebook.

Another considerati on wasGiffords' physical and emotion-al well-being at the launch,noted Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to PreventGun Violence.

"You don't know how some-one's going to react to all thosepeople and all that movement,"

Helmke said. "We're talking about a serious, traumaticinjury that happened less thanfour months ago. You wouldn't

want to do anything in terms of crowds, cameras or questionsthat could possibly affect hercondition. I'm sure that's whather doctors and family are con-cerned about."

Helmke noted that it hasbeen just over 30 years sinceJames Brady, a former press sec-retary to President RonaldReagan, was shot in the head inan assassination attempt on hisboss. Even now, he said, Brady has good days and bad ones,easy ones and difficult ones.

Besides, noted many, isn'tthere stress enough watching aspouse leave the planet?

"Things are tense enough

with no injury at all," Helmkesaid.To be sure, a photo of

Giffords would be newsworthy."This is a moment people havebeen waiting for," said Roy PeterClark of the Poynter Institute inSt. Petersburg, Fla., a journalismthink tank.

But, he noted, the desire toknow needs to be balancedagainst considerations of thecongresswoman's well-being and the risk that people willdraw premature conclusionsabout her condition. A solution,he added, might be a photo thatis not overly invasive or reveal-ing of specific details of hermedical condition.

SHUTTLE LAUNCH

Giffords: A poignant presence, but out of view


15/72

SERVING ALL OF CULLMAN COUNTY The Cullman Times©2011, The Cullman Times

SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011

COMING TO HELP CHS BASEBALLAuburn University sends volunteers. 1B Practice stopped to help neighbors. 1B

50 Cents

By Trent Moore

STAFF WRITER

CULLMAN — With the tor-nadoes gone, and her Cullmanhome thankfully still intact,Natasha Ponder spent Friday trying to formulate a plan forthe weeks ahead.

“I was at work Wednesday when the tornadoes hit, and watched it out the back doorcoming into Cullman,” shesaid late Friday morning, whileeating at meal at a temporary Red Cross shelter in the city.

Ponder works at a local fastfood restaurant on AlabamaHwy. 157, and with most busi-

nesses in the area closed dueto extended power outages,isn’t sure how she will haveenough cash to survive untilservices are restored.

“I guess we’ll have to con-serve money for a while now,because it looks like I’m going to be out of work for a while,”she said.

With a National Guard hum-mer parked out front andarmed troops providing securi-ty, the Cullman Civic Center

could easily be mistaken for a

barely-staffed army base, asopposed to the traditionaldowntown home of communi-ty plays and civic dinners.

Other than the occasionalmuted conversation, the only sound heard inside was thehum of a generator in the frontof the building to providesome electricity — andattached to it, a power stripcovered with cell phone charg-ers wrapping around like avine.

A makeshift sign that reads“American Red Cross Shelter,”

written with markers on paperboards, is propped outside the

center beside the highway. Theshelter is the only stable pres-ence the agency has inCullman for the moment, asthe main office downtown wasobliterated Wednesday.

“We’re providing immediateassistance, with a roof over

your head and food and shel-ter, but we’re getting calls frompeople wanting us to helpthem rebuild their homes,”Red Cross volunteer Judy Bellsaid. “We just can’t do that,

and it’s so sad, but we’re not

equipped for that. I mean, ouroffice was destroyed, too. Thisis a mass disaster at a magni-tude we’ve never handled,right in our hometown.”

Eating a sandwich at a fold-out table inside the civic cen-ter, city resident Kevin Day said the tragic tornado thatkilled two in Cullman County and injured about 100 has atleast rallied the community tosupport one another.

“We live at the housing authority, and everyone is real-ly working together to makesure the kids get food,” he said.“That’s the only good thing to

come of this, folks are really coming together.”

While eating a sandwich inthe darkened dining hall withher son, city resident TonyaMcGaugh said she was justglad to have a hot meal.

“Be glad we get to eattoday,” she said to her nine-

year-old son A.J. “I was watch-ing the tornado until it gotcloser, but then we got into thehall. Thank goodness it didn’tdo much damage to our house,

but nobody has power.”

A.J. was also home when thetornadoes hit, and said he rodethem out in the hallway withhis mother.

“I was scared, and I was worried I was going to get hitby cars or trees or something,”he said. “I just said, oh my gosh, it was scary.”

While picking up lunch atthe shelter, city parks employ-ee Mossy Smith said she wasdriving down the road inCullman when the tornadoeshit, and had to outrun thestorm to get home.

“I was scared to death whenI saw it,” she said. “I was leav-

ing the grocery store and going down the road, then I saw thetornado, right there. I was fly-ing 90-miles-an-hour trying tobeat it.”

In addition to the Red Crossshelter in downtown, feeding stations popped up all over thecity as churches and aidgroups mobilized to respondthroughout the day Friday.

Temple Baptist Church,among others, had grills run-ning around the clock in the

parking lot of Cullman High

School, providing sandwichesand plates of food to anyone who could make it there.

“We’ve been going sinceThursday morning,” churchadministrator Dustin Phillipssaid. “We’ve had so many peo-ple bring food by, before itthawed out, and the responsehas been unbelievable. We’vealso been making the rounds,taking food to nursing homes,and taking coffee to theNational Guard troops.”

Truck driver Paul Hansonspent his lunch break at thehigh school feeding station,along with his grandchildren.

He’d spent much of the morn-ing helping his daughter cleardebris from her yard, which

was covered with downedtrees.

“We’re doing pretty good,expect that we don’t have any power,” he said, while holding his three-year-old grand-daughter Erin. “We’ve taken afew things out of the freezer togrill and feed the kids, andnow we’re up here. Everybody’s

just trying to make it work.”

Hundreds filter into Red Cross shelter, feeding stations

GO ONLINETHOSE WITH MOBILE DEVICES CAN CHECK

CULLMANTIMES.COM FOR UPDATED INFORMATION


Cullman resident Paul Hanson spent his lunch break at the Cullman High School feeding station, along with his grandchildren Tristan Hibbert, 5, and Erin Hibbert, 3-years-old.

‘IN SHOCK’

By Trent MooreSTAFF WRITER

A small city area of Cullman saw power restored around 8 p.m. Friday night as the Tennessee Valley

Authorit y's effo rts to repai r trans ferstations began to pay off.

Mike Manning, president of the

Cullman Power Board, said a small sec-

tion in the northeast side of town has

power, including the area around

Cullman High School and the

Warehouse District of downtown.

"We're working hard to get as much

on as possible," Manning said. "It's still

in the hands of TVA. But they are work-

ing to get their substations on line."

Manning said the restoration of

power to the community is expected to

be slow because of the extent of dam-

age TVA suffered in the storms.

Brian Lacy of the Cullman County

Electric Cooperative, said the area is a

shared station with Cullman Power

Board at Alabama 157 and Alabama 31.

"We were told it would be a small

section, but TVA's official word is that it

will still be over a week for p ower to be

restored fully," Lacy said.

David Palmer contributed to this

report.

Power restored to parts of northeast area of city


16/72

By Jenna Fryer AP AUTO RACING WRITER

RICHMOND, Va. —

Clint Bowyer’s season start-ed with a chance to win theDaytona 500. A late-race

wreck ended his opportu-nity, and set the tone for amiserable opening month.

The low point came aftera blown engine at Bristoldropped Bowyer to 24th inthe Sprint Cup standings,and there were few indica-tions that his RichardChildress Racing teamcould climb out of the hole.

Until they did.Bowyer goes into

tonight’s race at RichmondInternational Raceway as

the hottest driver in theseries. Four consecutivetop-10s, including back-to-back second-place finishes,has vaulted him all the way up to 10th in the standings.

“A month ago I was wor-ried, very much so,” Bowyersaid. “But at the end of theday, the reality was it was

still way early in the season,still is even today. ... But itfeels good to be able to geton a little bit of a roll here,and hopefully we can con-tinue to ride that wave.”

Next up comesRichmond, one of Bowyer’sbetter tracks. He’ll startthird Saturday night,behind Juan PabloMontoya and Regan Smith.

Bowyer has five top-10sin 10 career starts, and hisvictory in 2008 was one of the more memorable winsof his entire racing career.

Denny Hamlin led 381

of the first 382 laps until atire issue allowed KyleBusch and Dale EarnhardtJr. to sail past him for thelead with 17 remaining.Caution eventually was

called for Hamlin, setting up a five-lap sprint to thefinish with Earnhardt,Busch and Bowyer holding

the first three spots.Busch then made con-

tact with Earnhardt’s car,sending Earnhardt spin-ning into the wall — andopening a hole for Bowyerto slide past and steal thevictory.

“That was win was prob-ably the most fun I’ve everhad in Victory Lanebecause it was a surprise,”Bowyer said. “I knew wehad a fast car, and we putourselves up there and putourselves in position and

the right circumstancesplayed out and we wereable to win the race. Youcouldn’t help but laugh

about it. Just an incrediblefeeling, an incredible winfor us.”

Bowyer is hoping he won’t need late-race fire- works to win Saturday night.

He’s running wellenough to win races andlost to Jimmie Johnson two

weeks ago at TalladegaSuperspeedway by .002 of asecond — tying the closestfinish in Cup history sinceimplementation of elec-tronic scoring in 1993.

But wins don’t comeeasy — Bowyer has madefour trips to Victory Lane inhis Cup career.

“We’ve got to win races,”he said. “I’ve been saying that all the time, and it’stime for myself and ourrace team to prove our-selves this year, and hope-fully we can win somemore.”

They’ve gotten closerthe past month because of changes made after the No.33 Chevrolet was not run-ning nearly as well as team-mates Kevin Harvick andPaul Menard. Bowyer crew chief Shane Wilson began

to use setups closer toHarvick’s and Menard’s,resulting in a seventh-placefinish at California, ninth at

Martinsville — whereBowyer led 91 laps andHarvick won — and thensecond-place finishes atTexas and Talladega.

“(I’m) very proud of ourrace team to get thingsturned around,” Bowyersaid. “The first four races

were just terrible, and wedug in deep and had adecent run at Martinsvilleand just kind of continuedto build on that and get thatball rolling, get the monkey off your back.”

SPORTS THE CULLMAN TIMES | SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011PAGE 2B

By Paul NewberryAP SPORTS WRITER

ATLANTA — The Braves are ateam that usually avoids the

spotlight, at least away from thepark.

Sure, there have been stum-bles along the way. Bobby Cox getting into a fracas with his

wife. Rafael Furcal serving jailtime after a second drunken-driving conviction. And, of course, John Rocker's infamousrant against homosexuals,immigrants and just about any-one else he didn’t agree with.

“We have a long-standing reputation in this community and in Major League Baseballthat we’re very proud of,” gener-al manager Frank Wren saidFriday.

Which makes these last threedays so surprising: Ugly allega-tions against pitching coachRoger McDowell, followed by the arrest of pitcher Derek Loweon DUI charges.

Wren was so concerned by the embarrassing double-

whammy that he called aclosed-door meeting to puteveryone on notice: players,coaches, even the front office.

“Unfortunately, mistakeshave been made, and we’ll deal

with them at the appropriatetime,” Wren said. “Everyone isvery mindful of the position wehave and, going forward, being

more diligent in making sure weuphold that reputation we’re soproud of.”

McDowell was placed onadministrative leave Friday forallegedly making homophobiccomments, crude gestures andthreatening a fan with a batbefore a game in San Franciscolast weekend.

Earlier in the day, the teamlearned that Lowe had beenarrested by state troopers whosaid they spotted him racing another car on an Atlanta street.The officer detected an odor of alcohol and administered a fieldsobriety test, which resulted in

Lowe’s arrest, according toGordy Wright, a spokesman forthe Georgia State Patrol.

“It’s been a rough coupledays for this organization and,clearly, I have a lot to do withthat,” said Lowe, who apolo-gized to his teammates during the clubhouse meeting. “Any time you do anything, you’re

putting the Braves in a bad spot. And that’s what I did. I let themknow that I’m sorry for the situ-

ation.”Lowe will make his next

scheduled start on Sunday, andthe team is unlikely to imposeany additional disciplinebeyond what the courts decide.

The outcome for McDowell isnot as clear, though managerFredi Gonzalez said he’s hopefulthe pitching coach will keep his

job.“I’m sure there’s some hoops

he’s going to go through, someapologizing, which he shouldhave to go through,” Gonzalezsaid. “But for a person to losetheir job, I wouldn’t think so. Ihope it doesn’t.”

The Braves and Major LeagueBaseball are under scrutiny,however, to impose a punish-ment with some bite if theteam’s investigation validatesthe allegations againstMcDowell.

Activists for the gay commu-nity are outraged by the allega-

tions, coming just weeks afterNBA star Kobe Bryant was fined$100,000 for using a common

homophobic slur to expressfrustration over a referee’s call.

“It remains to be seen whether the Atlanta Braves willtake real disciplinary action andsend a clear message that thereis no place for anti-gay remarksor violent threats in baseball,”said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance

Against Defamation.Barrios said the Braves and

Major League Baseball shouldfollow the lead of the NBA “by speaking out in support of gay and lesbian baseball fans andplayers around the country, andby taking steps to make thesport a safe place for everyone.”

Wren said he hopes to havethe investigation wrapped up by end of the weekend, and addedthat any punishment would becoordinated with commissionerBud Selig’s office.

Selig has already called theallegations “very troubling.”

Meanwhile, the Braves begana three-game series against theSt. Louis Cardinals, hoping to

put all the ugliness behindthem. Third baseman ChipperJones said it’s “just a couple of

weird instances.”“We’re still going to have a

good reputation,” catcher BrianMcCann added. “This organiza-tion is top of the line. I’m not

worried about that.”Gonzalez found himself in a

position that no manager wants,especially a first-year skipper

who replaced a future Hall of Famer. Cox retired last seasonafter managing the Braves since1990, a tenure marked by 15playoff appearances and littleturmoil off the field.

His replacement hopes this will be a defining moment forthe new regime. The Bravescame into Frid

Documents

The Cullman Times: Tornado Papers from days following April 27, 2011