January 28 Work/Snow day as written by Bob Thompson

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.