TEXT THE WORD “TORNADO” TO: 50555 AND DONATE $10 TO HELP THE FAMILIES SUFFERING FROM THIS DEVASTATING TRAGEDY. YOU CAN ALSO CALL FEMA: 800-621-3362. ON BEHALF OF THE RICKEY SMILEY MORNING SHOW WE THANK YOU VERY MUCH. BELOW ARE A LIST OF ITEMS NEEDED FOR MANY OF THE FAMILIES….
Address:
Pratt City Disaster Relief Center
The Old Scott Elementary School
1517 Hibernian Street (at the corner of Highway 78)
8 am to 6:30 pm – 7 days a week
Items needed:
Diapers
Formula
Baby Food
Underwear and Socks (Male and Female) all sixes including babies
Feminine Hygiene Products
Shoe Laces) Black and White)
Blankets, Pillows, Sheets, Pillow Cases
Garbage Bags – kitchen size and industrial strength
First Aid Kits
Laundry Detergent, Clorox, Fabric Softener, Sanitizer for hands
Kleenex, toilet Paper, Paper Towel
Bath Towels and Washcloths
Batteries (All Sizes)
Power Cords
Cleaning Supplies
Soap
Tooth Paste/Tooth Brushes/Mouth Wash
Combs/Brushes
Deodorant
Band-Aids (Of All Sizes)
Rubbing Alcohol/Peroxide/Neosporin
Tylenol/Aspirin
Water
Non=Perishable (Dog Food, Dry Food, Flour Mill, Cooking Oils, Cereal, etc.)
Pots/Pans, Dishes such as Plates, Bowls, Silverware
Specific needs:
• Tarps (all sizes)
• Diapers, formula, non-perishable food (cereal, flour mill, dry food, etc). Dog food
• School uniforms
• Kids shoes size 5&6
• Men’s shoes sizes 12-16
• Toiletries
• Blankets, sheets, pillow cases
• Baby food especially Stage One
• Baby lotion
• Pull ups
Residents and friends sorted through rubble in destroyed houses in Pratt City in the rain looking for whatever they could salvage, May 3, 2011. Carolyn Cargill looks through the rubble of an aunt’s house. While there she found and retrieved a favorite hat for her aunt.(Birmingham News/Linda Stelter) BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — As rain slowed cleanup of storm debris around Alabama on Tuesday, state officials continued to count the dead and assess the extent of the destruction left by last week’s tornadoes while federal officials made a push to get residents to sign up for aid.
Some schools reopened as legislators considered a bill that could shorten the school year for systems with schools damaged or destroyed by last week’s tornadoes.
More big names, including Actor/Comedian and Radio Personality Rickey Smiley, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the NAACP’s national president, Benjamin Jealous, came through to survey and lend their support to relief efforts.
Kindness of strangers
Donations and help continued flowing into the state. Alabama operations of Mercedes-Benz, along with its parent company, Daimler AG, announced plans to donate $1 million, while utility and telecom equipment company Altec Inc. will donate $500,000. Medical Properties Trust, a Birmingham real estate investment trust, donated $100,000.
But the big focus Tuesday remained on the effort to clear piles of debris strewn along the paths cut by the storms.
“We did all we could do yesterday (Monday) to help people with trees on their houses … and to prioritize those that needed tarps,” said John Hayes, Birmingham-area coordinator for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, one of many groups that distributed tarps to protect storm-damaged homes from the rain.
Hayes said Tuesday’s rain didn’t stop about 110 volunteers working at homes and churches scattered around the Birmingham area. The group, as of Tuesday, had completed 53 jobs and has 157 remaining on a list.
“Hopefully before the next rain hits we will have most of them covered,” Hayes said.
Restoring power
Meanwhile, more residents and businesses around Alabama had electrical service returned Tuesday. Alabama Power reported Tuesday that 98 percent of those whose power was knocked out had it restored. Statewide, 8,200 Alabama Power customers remained without service as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, including 4,450 in Jefferson and Shelby counties.
Hallie Bradley, a spokeswoman for Alabama Power, said the company hopes to have electrical service returned to 99.9 percent of customers by the end of the day today.
Federal state and local officials also continued to assess just how much death and destruction occurred in the state.
Storm survey teams from the National Weather Service’s Birmingham and Huntsville offices reported that 28 tornadoes touched down statewide, but noted surveys likely will continue today.
The weather service Tuesday also upgraded a tornado that traveled a 72 -mile path from east Jefferson County to Cherokee County from an EF-3 to an EF-4, the second-strongest tornado.
Alabama Emergency Management Agency officials on Monday began calling the coroner in each county affected by last week’s storms to get a firmer figure on the number of state fatalities. The agency’s last report put the death toll at 236 people in Alabama alone.
“We are in the process of our first statewide verification of the fatality reports received from local officials. When that process is complete, the number will be released,” EMA spokeswoman Yasamie August said Tuesday night.
Quantifying loss
Alabama EMA also will not have firm figures on the number of damaged homes until it gets the number of people registering for assistance with FEMA, August said.
“Damage assessments are just starting … and once that process is complete it will give us a better idea just how much damage we have throughout the state,” she said.
Lamar and Lauderdale counties were added to the list of counties that are part of Alabama’s federal disaster declaration. Thus far, households and businesses in 38 counties are eligible for disaster assistance.
FEMA did not have an update Tuesday on the number of state residents who had registered for help to repair or rebuild homes or find temporary shelter. On Monday, nearly 18,000 had registered.
FEMA is on a push to get people to sign up for disaster aid at one of 11 centers set up around Alabama. People seeking federal aid have 60 days to sign up for aid, said Denise Everhart, a FEMA spokeswoman.
To get more people to sign up, 200 FEMA community relations workers are being brought into the state to go into communities, find people affected by the storms, and ask them to sign up, Everhart said.
Some of those workers already are in Alabama seeking storm survivors, many of whom may be staying with relatives or friends, she said.
“We need them to get in touch with us so we can get them some safe, secure housing,” Everhart said.
News staff writers Jeremy Gray, Stan Diel, Dawn Kent, Carol Robinson, Thomas Spencer, David White and Barnett Wright contributed to this report.
