April 27, 2011 & January 23, 2012
by Terri Robinette
April 27, 2011
We sat huddled together in the living room listening
to the sounds of trees uprooting, glass shattering and
metal shingles banging. After the longest five minutes
of our lives, an eerie silence beckoned us to the door.
We opened to another world. Scenes of destruction were
everywhere: hundred year old trees lying in yards and
across the road, roofs missing from houses, cars
crushed. My parents have lived in their Cahaba Heights
home for over forty years and this was not the Cahaba
Heights that we recognized. Then peeking through the
chaos was a small ray of sunshine. Hope bloomed in the
generosity and presence of others. Vestavia Police were
knocking door to door to check on residents. Vestavia
Fire was cutting trees to gain access to roadways. Two
very nice young boys from Birmingham United Soccer
knocked on our door with kind words, a smile and a gift
card to a local restaurant. Volunteers had swooped in
offering water, a helping hand and even a shoulder to
cry on. The love continued to flow from Pratt City to
Tuscaloosa to Fultondale to Moody to Cahaba Heights and
all the way to Phil Campbell and Huntsville. Neighbors
helping neighbors and people from across the nation and
even across the world were offering to help. People gave
food and water, clothing, their time and their money. My
daughter and I had the pleasure of volunteering for a
few hours at the Christian Service Mission (CSM). The
nice man who was speaking with the volunteers explained
it best. In the beginning, there was immediate need.
Then FEMA stepped in and people began to receive money
and EBT. Sadly, the money will not last long and people
will still be in need. That is when organizations
supplied by the CSM will step in. He called them “GEMA”
or God’s emergency management assistance. What a
wonderful way of expressing it! While we were at CSM,
volunteers included Samford students, UAB’s women’s
basketball team, a wonderful group of elderly ladies
from Shades Mountain Baptist Church and even a group of
Clemson students who had drove down for the day. Alabama
was struck by an awful tragedy. It will take years to
rebuild all that is lost and some may never recover.
Over two hundred lives were lost on that fateful day, a
day that will not be forgotten by us Alabamians.
However, we must also remember the love that has been
shown from one person to another. It is in the darkest
of times that individual people shine the brightest.
Thank you to everyone for your love and support. May we
continue to remember our neighbors in need after the
initial crisis has faded from the headlines.
January 23, 2012
Summer lived with my parents in April 2011 when the
straight line winds severely damaged homes in Cahaba
Heights. Trees fell on their house and across their
yard. The house, driveway and all three cars were
damaged. But more importantly, Summer still bears scars
of the raging storms. So when she moved into our old
home, she was so excited. She told me that she felt safe
there. She has been living there for about a month and a
half.
Yesterday, she woke me from sleep at about 330 am
telling me that the storm had picked up in Centerpoint.
I got up and went to the couch to talk to her. She was
having a touch of a panic attack so I walked her through
deep breathing and told her to go to the bathroom and
get in the tub. I have to admit that I was doing it for
her emotional wellbeing, I had no idea the storm was so
severe. It may have been only a few minutes but it felt
like seconds before she began screaming and crying that
a tornado was hitting the house. I will never forget the
sound and feeling so helpless.
Now that I have given you a little lead-in, I will
tell you my miracle. Summer was trapped in the bathroom
surrounded by a broken house. The bed where she had lain
only moments before – gone beneath a tree and a pile of
rubble. Inside the bathroom, I would later learn from
Jim, – scenes of a nightmare. He was visibly shaken when
he saw it in the daylight. Summer would tell me that as
she sat in the tub, the windows burst and the door flew
off the hinges (that was when she began screaming on the
phone). Then the trees began falling. (We had eleven
fall – seven in the yard and four directly on the house)
The large one that fell on the bed was stopped in the
bathroom…. by a fallen door. I could not and cannot
thank God enough. It is only through his loving grace
that Summer survived this direct hit. A door. God works
in mysterious ways. He used a door to save my beloved
daughter’s life. As Summer said herself, how could
anyone witness the damage and destruction in her
neighborhood with NO INJURIES and not believe in God?
So many lost so much yesterday. Material objects can
be replaced; I do not care about the loss of my house,
our camper, our shed, our car… Replaceable. I thank God
for the gift of more time with my daughter; she is
irreplaceable.