Two Days in Fairfield...  So Far!

An EF-1 tornado made its way through Fairfield, Alabama - approximately running parallel to I-20/59 and then crossing the Interstate at the north end of its 8.29 mile track - on Thursday, June 22, along a very narrow (255 yards maximum width) pathway.  This map, prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, shows the course taken by the storm.

On Saturday morning, June 26, at 8:30 am, a 7-person Cutters for Christ team and Abel were on-site and accepted work assignments from the city of Fairfield to help clear debris from 6 different properties that day. The seven members who were able to deploy on such short notice were Bob Suellentrop, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Chris Williams (Buddy's son who happened to be stateside at this particular time; Chris is an original member of our CFC team but has been "on leave" from the team while serving as a missionary - first training in Costa Rica and then appointed in Colombia, South America - with his wife and three children for the last three years), David Moser, John Boettner and Tim Smith. The team was assigned to work in an area in the vicinity of 60th Street and Court G.  While photos of the team working in Fairfield on Saturday are sparse, here is a look at what the team encountered.

This tornado aftermath has displayed a bit different-looking destruction pattern than we normally encounter - at least in the areas of work to which we have been assigned thus far.  While the images many of us saw on television showed a good deal of damage to businesses, we did not see such destruction in the residential areas where we have been assigned to work.  While, of course, if the damage left behind by the storm affected you personally as a property owner, the damage was absolutely significant.  But overall, we did not see trees snapped off 30' above the ground leaving totem poles behind.  We did not see homes blown apart or flattened by the winds.  We did not see a wide swath where we could clearly identify the edges of the path the tornado took as it traversed from southwest to northeast with everything within those borders looking like a bombed-out war zone.  Instead, trees were blown over in their totality, exposing root balls everywhere.  Tree limbs and leaves littered the ground forming dense "jungles" of debris to cut through.  And blessedly, only shingles blown off roof tops, some roofs penetrated by trees falling on them and collapsed carports appeared to be the most prevalent structural damage we saw.  The team reported that they started working on a sunny day, but by the time they finished working around 4 pm the skies had re-opened and they concluded their assignments in a downpour. A second team consisting of 7 participants deployed on Wednesday, June 28 and we do have a picture to share with you of them, taken immediately following their lunch break:

The June 28 team was comprised of (l. to r.) Ken Clements, John Calhoun, Buddy Williams, Tim Smith, Bob Thompson, Ray Miller and Boyd Martin. Not pictured: The super skidsteer, Abel!

The team was assigned to work the 56th Street block bordered by Myron Massey Boulevard and Court G - just to the east of the Miles College campus.

BEFORE: The alley behind the houses fronting on Court G and Myron Massey Boulevard as seen from 56th Street AFTER:

BEFORE: The carport behind 5600 Court G (note the tree that fell on and collapsed the carport rooftop and the tree branches to the right). AFTER:

Working on debris removal behind the carport and the Myron Massey house:

BEFORE: Debris behind 5601 Myron Massey Boulevard. AFTER:

NBC Channel 13 filmed many of the groups working in Fairfield last Saturday and this past Wednesday, and they interviewed several property owners, too, in order to put together a story for their local nightly newscasts on Wednesday.  We were filmed while working and a few seconds of our work on Wednesday did show up in the 4, 5 and 6 pm news broadcasts.  If you're viewing this communication on your PC or if you have Flash installed on your Mac, click on the image below to (hopefully, if the link works!) watch one of the versions of the news story the station aired.

Our Baptist DRM and Adventist DRM chainsaw team colleagues have been working in Fairfield, too, and we're aware that even some Habitat for Humanity home building teams were reassigned from their construction work sites to help out with debris clean-up in Fairfield last Saturday.  There's still work to do there but the rainy weather that is forecast to extend through at least the beginning of next week compromises our ability to get out there again - especially with the skid steer support we need. Between our first two days of work in Fairfield we've provided 120.5 hours of service with more anticipated to follow.  Our safety record remains at 100% for 5 years running. As always, we appreciate your continuing prayers for those who deploy with our CFC teams to share God's love and to restore hope in Jesus' name.  But most of all we ask you to please be in prayer for those who may have suffered any losses at all and of any sort in connection with this storm!

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator _____________________________________________________________