Batten down the hatches

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
161

<p>Here’s what it says on the UAH website.</p>

<p>UAHuntsville Closed</p>

<p>The University of Alabama in Huntsville will remain closed until Monday morning, May 1st. Non-essential personnel should not come to campus until Monday. Please note that there is a dusk till dawn curfew in Madison County.</p>

<p>The campus of UAHuntsville has not received any damage from the storms on April 28. There is no power to campus, but all students in campus housing are safe. Food will be provided for all students in the University Center Cafeteria.</p>

<p>Any further announcements about campus openings or closings, along with further information, will be made via local media. Please monitor local TV and radio stations for any updated announcements.</p>

<p>Final exam schedule:</p>

<pre><code>* Monday 5/1 - As Scheduled

  • Tuesday 5/2 - As Scheduled
  • Wednesday 5/3 - As Scheduled
  • Thursday 5/4 - All exams previously scheduled for 4/28 at same time and location
  • Friday 5/5 - All exams previously scheduled for 4/29 at same time and location.
    </code></pre>
162

<p>I walked out to Target today and got to see the damage first hand. It is scary seeing all that is gone. I’ll be here until next Saturday, but am likely going over to a friend’s house in Northport. Target, Publix, and Rite Aid are open. Stay safe everyone.</p>

163

<p>I have been glued to the news since getting home and cannot believe the devastation there. I am so very, very sorry for all of you who have ties to those Alabama towns. I
am thinking about and praying for all on this board and all there. GB</p>

164

<p>Can’t believe some of the devastatiion. Full moon bbq completely gone.</p>

165

<p>How are you mom? How are your boys and their friends? What is the best thing we can do now??</p>

166

<p>Lessons learned?</p>

<p>I’ve been at work today and not able to monitor blow by blow so have scanned through these postings. God Bless Alabama - the school and the state.</p>

<p>Just a thought: I was talking with another Mom about emergency kits…something to plan for. My son had a small bag with energy bars, water etc… Watching what is happening, I think a solar or battery operated phone charger will be included in next year’s bag. We might even do a thread on this!</p>

<p>I don’t know if any of ‘our’ kids were injured or killed yet. This has been an experience for our kids to grow from…especially to follow emergency directives. </p>

<p>I am grateful my son and his friends are safe, /damage reports aren’t yet in.</p>

<p>Bama Bound May 2010: we’ll have to meet in the NEW Blue Moon next time we meet.</p>

<p>Now, I’m off to read carefully and fact-find. Be safe all.</p>

167

<p>They are calling for donations of clothes/underwear/socks and shoes, I have asked my friends locally for help. I will collect all I can and load up my car before I come down. I am asking that all parents heading down do this as well. It will be a great help to those who have nothing. Remember, children are homeless too, maybe a stuffed toy would be welcome as well.</p>

<p>Spoke with my son, he will be staying local to help with rescue effort. they have some bottled water and supplies for now.</p>

<p>I don’t know if I will be prepared for what I will be seeing.</p>

168

<p>As this thread has progressed over the last 24 hours, I have prayed and hoped and shed tears. I am so glad to see so many of our students are safe and heartbroken to learn of the deaths. I pray that the staff and families of those UA staff are safe and that the Sharpes, Batsons, Morgans, etc. are all safe and sound.</p>

<p>Several years ago we were directly hit by Hurricane Rita. Houses were ripped apart all around us and right next door. The debris piles from our yard alone was 9-12 feet high, 80 feet long and 12-14 feet wide. The tornado went through our back yard and ripped homes and buildings around our home completely apart or did devastating damage. When my husband and I came back early the next day to go to work in the response effort, we found seniors wandering in the streets dazed and shocked. Some were pinned in their homes. A brief few years later Hurricane Ike hit and a 16 foot wall of water moved upriver from our home…just three blocks away. The levee held and the inland county was devastated.</p>

<p>Some of our new UA family and students are feeling this hollow sense of shock, horror, gratitude and disbelief. They continue to move forward, to help others and to do whatever is necessary to recover. It is a willingness to roll up your sleeves, a selflessness to give to others and a spirit and determination that exemplifies the character of those recovering from the trauma. And recover they - and we - will.</p>

<p>We also learned some horrific lessons in the aftermath. I truly do not want to alarm anyone but please please know that your loved ones who return home could very well have post traumatic stress disorder. It will vary in different levels and manifests itself at different levels. It may be something that your family can handle and discuss and move through together, it may require counseling from professonals or clergy. Please know that going home away from Tuscaloosa will not stop the grief process or the shock or the guilt or the gratitude…whatever they are experiencing. </p>

<p>In moving forward after the first hurricane we lost a loving seventh grader from our church family who committed suicide. Others followed. Some adults and students needed long term counseling. I am only posting this to sincerely ask you to have an open discussion with your loved ones and children. Three months from now, still have this discussion and have it again when they return to campus in the Fall. In time the surreal aspect of this does fall away and the grief process begins. It can bring those of us who are professionals to our knees as well. Those who care for others need to debrief and discuss. It sounds like many of you have tremendous heroes in your kids. Those kids who volunteered in the immediate aftermath and saw and heard things that will stay with them always. God Bless them for their courage and compassion. Let’s support them when the reality sinks in over time.</p>

<p>I really hope that I haven’t unduly alarmed you or offended you. Living through this with a pre-teen and now a child who proudly joins UA in the Fall has given me great insight. Living with it in a professional capacity adds to the insight. Living it as the daughter of a senior citizen powerhouse mom who had a stroke after the shock of the second hurricane adds to the package. </p>

<p>For all of us it is about not just living through a massive tragedy but thriving after it. That path will have stumbling blocks. Please let your babies and friends know that it is normal, that there is help and encourage them to find it. If they have never dealt with anything of this magnitude, destruction and loss of life, they need our support.</p>

<p>You have all been so gracious in sharing your knowledge, experiences and passion for UA with my family. It has been said before that we all have a connection on here and I feel it and am thankful for it. I hope that this heartfelt message just prompts your discussions with your loved ones and also your observations of their behavior and thoughts. If there is anything I can do please do not hesitate to contact me. The UA family, Tuscaloosa residents, Alabama and the South remains in my prayers. </p>

<p>As incident command continues to process the event, secure the town and restore emergency services across the South, we will see the eyes of the world turn to the next press event. Please be very vigilent as to what we can do or donate. Those of you in the vicinity please let us know how we can best contribute. If they continue with the June Bama Bound events, we will be in town and hope to contribute then if not before. Your guidance would be appreciated.</p>

169

<p>Crimsommomtobe:</p>

<p>You said it so well…as only someone who “has been there” can do. I alluded to something like this a few pages back, having survived Hurricane Katrina. Yes, the adrenaline is running now and parents and kids are being heroes and that is a wonderful thing. BUT, in the coming weeks and months please be aware that honest discussions and possibly professional counseling may be needed.</p>

<p>I am a long-time lurker and have posted a few times, as my high school sophomore D is interested in Alabama and we had planned to visit this summer. Two of my son’s classmates are sophomores at Alabama now and we have heard from both of them and they are fine. </p>

<p>I sincerely appreciate the information you all have shared with me on the university. I wanted to give a little something back and share with you info that I’ve come across on the web, as well as some words of wisdom from someone who has been through a horrible natural disaster.</p>

<p>My prayers are with all of you and your families,
Allison</p>

170

<p>Robotbldmom, where do you drop off the donations? We may drive down to get son. I may be able to organize a donation drive at our school before we head to t-town.</p>

171

<p>Donations can be dropped off at the Rec Center. I went and donated some clothes and toiletries and am glad to see that there was so much already donated.</p>

172

<p>Just got off the phone with my son, who’s made his way to Birmingham, where he’ll stay with a friend until he flies out 9 days from now. He reports that the devastation is indescribable. He and a group of friends tried to pitch in wherever they could, but authorities, while appreciating the intent, just want students to leave the city.</p>

<p>The word he’s received is that power will not be restored until Monday at the earliest, so he won’t return to fetch his belongings and clean/check out of the dorm until next week. He also reported a harrowing tale about a fraternity brother of his who survived the tornado by crouching in the bathtub of his first-floor apartment while the second story of the building was being shredded into slabs and toothpicks and hurled all around him. A truck outside the building has a large piece of lumber impaled through its flank like an arrow shot into a bale of hay. Five guys tried to extract it, but it didn’t budge an inch.</p>

<p>Sadly, he reports that looting has begun. The National Guard is on the scene to quell that unfortunate dynamic.</p>

<p>If I hear anything else of value, I’ll pass it along. And may I say in closing that y’all are just the most amazing, loving group. My son couldn’t be affiliated with a more wonderful university.</p>

<p>Roll Tide and Aloha.</p>

173

<p>I just drove from Tampa to Tallahassee and back today to visit my son at Florida State. I saw at least 30-40 electric utility trucks in different convoys heading north on I 75 or west on I 10. I imagine they’re headed to areas in Alabama or Georgia to help repair outages. Given how hard Tuscaloosa was hit some must be going there.</p>

<p>My daughter and I visited Bama in October and attended a recruiting event here in Tampa and it’s her been at the top of her list for quite some time. (in case you’re wondering why an FSU person would be posting).</p>

174

<p>Sending thoughts and prayers your way from New England.</p>

<p>Please let us know how we can help.</p>

175

<p>DD and her boyfriend have made their way to his home in Muscle Shoals. What is normally a 2 hour drive took them over 4 hours! They are planning to go back to Tuscaloosa tomorrow with his parents to pack up and check out. I am in St. Louis with my sister in law and niece who are here from the Netherlands participating in a robotics championship. I cannot tell you feeling of helplessness as this horrific tale has unfolded! Thank goodness for her boyfriends parents who have stepped in to help until I can get there (most likely Monday). While sobbing this morning on the phone she asked me “why”…I could give her the scientific reasons but was at a loss for words otherwise. She said over and over again that this was not how she envisioned ending her freshman year. We were blessed that she and her roommate got along really well and she is lamenting that she might not be there to say good bye! As the names of those who have not survived in the Greek Community trickle in, some she knew and some she did not, the nightmare is relived. She said over and over again…“it won’t ever be the same”. For those of you who are considering Bama I have to tell you that if I were in your shoes this would not change the fact that my DD would attend. If anything it confirms the loving, supportive spirit that is prevalent at the University. Thank you to all who are praying…although unhurt physically many of our children are bearing emotional wounds that will take time to heal. To all of you who I know as posters …I am thankful for your updates, care and concern and am glad that you (those who also lived this nightmare) and your students are ok…the kids are all saying that it was the spirit of the great Paul “Bear” Bryant that keep the campus safe last night…some surely did…God Bless you all and Roll Tide!</p>

176

<p>Thank you, malanai, for the word about the Monday power restoration. We were considering waiting until Saturday to retrieve son, when power would supposedly be restored, but will probably head over earlier.</p>

<p>Son said RA instructed floor to leave, just pack everything up and leave keys at the community desk, as the water is contaminated. No washing hands, brushing teeth, taking showers.</p>

<p>Safe travels, everyone, to retrieve your kids.</p>

177

<p>Our prayers are with all those on the ground… and with those who wait for word of loved ones. My DS has been sure about attending Bama next year since Capstone Scholars day in January, and this has only made him look forward even more to Outdoor Action - he hopes that the class will be doing rebuilding as their project.</p>

<p>We moved to Florida the year there were three hurricanes in six weeks (four if you count the one that hit the Panhandle, but we were in the penninsula). Our next move was 300 miles inland in Texas - just in time for Rita, then Ike a couple of years later. Both towns that we lived in hadn’t had hurricanes in 50 years. No matter where you live (or where your kids go to school), disasters can happen. The responses of the University and the mayor to this horrific tornado have given us confidence that they are competent and caring - all we can really ask of anyone.</p>

178

<p>D got home a little while ago. She was ready to leave before they got word that exams were canceled so we’ll go back during the week to pack up her stuff. </p>

<p>She said it was “really bad;” worse than she’d seen after Katrina. They went out Lurleen Wallace and she said you could just see the path where it went through, cars upside down, buildings down to the slab. </p>

<p>Thanks for the heads up on the post traumatic issues. You can see the struggle going on from moment to moment. Relief that she’s OK, shock at what happened, the unbelief as she looks at some of the footage the first time, then happiness at not having to write a paper, and bumming that the fun Saturday wrap up event with her friends won’t happen, then worrying about an open can of soda she left in her room.</p>

179

<p>Hey everyone, this link will lead you to all donation sites and drop offs. I will post more as it becomes available:
<a href=“http://legislativebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/04/tuscaloosa-tornado-relief-efforts.html[/url]”>http://legislativebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/04/tuscaloosa-tornado-relief-efforts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

180

<p>I was WONDERING how you are, Mom2CollegeKids!! I hope you’re okay!</p>