First Person Account of Alabama Tornado Damage.

About 20 miles south of me.

Lots of friends there.

I had to drive through Phil Campbell AL Thursday PM to get home.

Utter devastation. Cars tossed and wrapped around stumps

Snapped trees, slabs of concrete where houses once stood.

Most of the remaining buildings have serious roof damage.

Lines of dazed folks getting food in salvation army lines.

Looters are swarming in like cockroaches under the guise of 'I'm here to help". So much so, they are keeping out any non-locals except organized church groups, NG, and feds.

The only way to prep for a F4 or F5 that has your house in the crosshairs is to be undergound.

A steel job box such as this ( http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/profile_post_images/iso_job_box_loc_2.jpg) bolted to your slab or a concrete pad may survive above gound....maybe.

Cell and landlines are all out.

Local hams are the only comms in the area. LE and the feds still haven't learned the lessons from 9/11. Lot of problems with different agencies whose radios don't talk to the other agencies.

Pretty scary stuff.

Yikes.

Well that's depressing. Good job Feds - glad to see all that crap-tacular on-line federal response training is going to good use. What was it, IS-100?

Good old looters. Nothing like surviving the big event to see your stuff taken. And woe to the person that actually tries to keep their property.

The first responders here have been 90% church groups.

The morning after, the local mayor of one town hit hard said the fire department looked like a convenience store with all the donated items.
That afternoon, he said it looked more like a Super WalMart.