Dear
RUMC Disaster Response Ministry Roster Members and Friends of the Ministry,
On
January 23, 2014 the UMC North Alabama Conference sent out a Disaster Response
Update in which it reported that Conference Trustee and RUMC Member John
McQueen had just completed his visit to the shuttered Genesis UMC buildings in
Leeds and found that significant water damage had occurred in one of the
buildings there. The Update requested the assistance of any who might be able
to help clean-up 4 rooms, a connecting hallway and 2 bathrooms at Genesis,
something that would cost the Conference $7,000 if it had to engage ServPro to
do the work.
Asbury
UMC Member Alan Weeks stepped up to coordinate the effort and just 5 days later
at 8:30 AM on Tuesday morning, January 28, six men - Alan Weeks, Bob Thompson,
Buddy Williams, Jim Pressler, Russell Thomas and Tom Owens - convened at the
property to take down the water damaged ceiling tiles and insulation, pull up
water damaged carpeting and take down water damaged wallboard and
panelling.
The
connecting hallway, both bathrooms and 3 of the 4 rooms were "disassembled"
(see the before and after pictures below) and all that remains in room 4 is to
pull up the carpeting which Alan stated he would be able to complete himself
when he returns to apply an anti-mildew spray to the rooms. We had planned to
work until mid-afternoon (after all, the heat was turned on inside the building
and we were cozy enough while we worked despite the 23 degree weather outside!)
to complete all the work we had been asked to perform, but Alan declared the
work completed for the day at 11:30 AM in the face of the inclement weather
that had blown in and appeared to be gaining in intensity so quickly.
Everyone
has their stories of the last two days - where they were during the snowstorm
and how they fared - and our little team of workers are no different. Although
it took us each only 30 minutes to get there, it took between 6 and and almost
29 hours for each of us to get home!!!
Fighting
the growing number of abandoned cars just about everywhere and carefully
navigating the ever-growing treacherous roadways covered in snow and ice, Alan
travelled via Highway 119 back to southeast Hoover, first putting in at a
friend's house near Lake Purdy but then eventually making it all the way home
around 5 PM.
Buddy ‘languished'
first at the Highway 78/Rex Lake Road intersection (we learned the locals call
it “at the Chevron station”) in front of the Bass Pro Shop and then for
2-3 hours the the intersection of I-20 and I-459 waiting to turn northward
toward his home in Clay; he eventually had to abandon his truck and walk the
last mile to his house, arriving there at 7:20 PM.
Russell
and Tom surfaced today to tell us that they had made it home - when and how we
still don't know!
Jim
and I ended up stranded in Leeds, unable to traverse the short distance from
Genesis UMC to I-20 because of the quickly icing roads on the hill heading up
Zeigler Road (our first attempted route) and then up Parkway Drive (Bankhead
National Highway/Highway 78; our second attempted route), both of which lead to
the Rex Lake Road and Highway 78 intersection. Cars in front of us had driven
off the road; other cars behind them were unable to accelerate and gain
purchase on the ice and themselves were then slipping backwards and sidewards.
The local police turned all the cars behind them - including us - back toward
town. Because of the hour we decided to stop and have lunch at Rusty's Bar-B-Q
on Bankhead Highway (5 stars for the rib sandwich, by the way!) and then after
eavesdropping on the talk of travel conditions which was the main topic
of conversation there we decided to stop at the police station to
inquire about the ‘official’ road conditions heading out of town and
on to Hoover. They told us that all the roadways were impassable; that the cars
on them were stranded and were being abandoned by their drivers
and occupants; and that we should head over to the Civic Center where
we could stay warm until the all-clear would be announced. We were the first
two people there at 2 PM. Eight hours later, at 10 PM, some 80-100 people had
joined us there.
The
Civic Center staff - there were just two of them: Charles Moore and Alinda
Yarborough - took great care of everyone andstayed the entire 23 hours we
were there (plus their shifts had started at 7 AM that morning). Cots were set
up in the gym. Sloppy Joes and hamburgers and hot dogs along with sliced
carrots and canned pineapple were served for supper. Coffee was in plentiful
supply. Breakfast of oatmeal and grits were served this morning and then ham
sandwiches were prepared for lunch. We kept abreast of the road conditions by
watching the continuous coverage on Fox6 and ABC33/40 and taking the
opportunity to speak with everyone who arrived at the shelter during the course
of the day, sharing how fortunate we all were to have the Civic Center made
available to us and the blessing that Charles and Alinda were to everyone.
We
decided we could make an attempt at heading home around 1:15 PM today. We
headed back down Highway 119 to Zeigler Road and where we had gotten turned back
just 24 hours earlier we were threatened by icy roads in the very same spot
once again. But this time a team of community residents on 4-wheel drive Mules
and armed with logging chains hooked the front axel of Jim’s Tahoe to
their ATVs and pulled us up the icy 35 yards or so to the top of the hill. Our
getaway was all "down hill,” literally and figuratively, from
there. Onto Rex Lake Road to Highway 78 and onto I-20 where we thought it
was an abandoned highway at least until we approached the I-20/I-459
intersection, where we then spent an hour in stop-and-go stalled traffic three
lanes wide traveling just one mile - the hold-up apparently being cars that had
been abandoned the day and night before and were now being towed from the
roadway, along with some sore of medical emergency up ahead which sent a tow
truck and a paramedic ambulance, with its lights and sirens blaring, traveling
past us on the left hand shoulder of the road. Once on I-459 we traveled easily
on the mostly vacant southbound lanes to the Galleria exit and then on to our
homes by 4:30 PM - a 3 hour and 15 minute drive for a normally 25-minute trip.
(Jim actually reported that he had to walk the last 3/4 mile to his house in
Riverchase while I was able to drive right into my garage at my house in Willow
Trace.)
So
I've reported all this to you just to let you know that disaster recovery and
relief is always an exciting adventure. You never know what to expect, what you
might encounter or what you may need to prepare for. We enjoy the fellowship of
team members working together, welcoming new teammates to work with us and
serving those affected (humans and buildings alike!) by severe weather ravages.
These past 24 hours were really a special blessing to me as we unexpectedly
RECEIVED the joy of Christ from those wonderful people in Leeds just as we went
about fulfilling our mission of serving and witnessing for
Him and SHARING the joy of Christ with the staff of the Civic Center, with the
others stranded there (including two pregnant women, several elderly folks, a
half dozen children and the many 'foreigners among us' who were just 'traveling
through’ and found themselves delivered from the highway and their
stranded vehicles) at the same time!
Please
consider joining us on future work assignments. I know you, too, will feel the
awesome presence of the Lord with us on every job we undertake!
In His Service,
Bob T.
Bob T.
