Jacksonville Tornado Deployment

We got the call early this morning from Rev. Randy Burbank, the North Alabama Conference United Methodist Church Disaster Ministry Coordinator, telling us that all we had already been seeing on television this morning from Cullman and Jacksonville was, indeed, reality, and that we should deploy ASAP to the Jacksonville site where the call for chainsaw teams had been requested. After hasty text messages and phone calls to 10 of our most frequently available "first responders" we were able to arrange for 4 of us to meet in Jacksonville at 10:30 am with chainsaws and skid steer ready to work. Today marked the maiden voyage of "Oz," Asbury UMC's new tow truck which they purchased expressly to haul "Abel," the intrepid skid steer, from job site to job site. Boyd reports that Oz handled wonderfully. We want to especially recognize and thank Asbury UMC for its disaster response ministry mission commitment and for making this very significant and important addition to its DRM hardware inventory.

Our four human team participants today were Bob Suellentrop, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams and Bob Thompson. Oz is to the left and Abel is behind us!

As you might expect, there was quite a bit of confusion and wonder on the part of the clean-up organizers this morning. Calhoun County EMA asked everyone wishing to volunteer to sign in at the Jacksonville Community Center and so, after greeting the senior pastor at Jacksonville First UMC, Rev. Lyle Holland (and learning from him that only one tree on church property had come down in the storm but he felt that the power company would need to attend to it as it had taken down power lines when it fell), we made our way to the sign-in site. Hundreds of people were already there ahead of us, all awaiting work assignments. Upon completing the required paperwork - a volunteer form and a liability release - a few of the EMA organizers who recognized our yellow shirts quickly gave us their mandatory "safety lecture" and color-of-the-day wrist bracelets and asked if we would work with a team of 6 Talledega firefighters who were going to be tackling some of the larger trees and more significant debris in the northeast part of town which was hardest hit by the tornado. We readily agreed and were sent out to the mustering site for further instructions. When we arrived there we were greeted by a Jacksonville firefighter who was coordinating the mustering site. He was in radio contact with someone in the field and every place he checked they were still awaiting the power company to shut off the electricity before we could go into the neighborhoods to begin work. Finally, the Jacksonville firefighter said he really didn't think we'd get into the debris fields today and he suggested we simply come back tomorrow for reassignment. They would not let us drive up into the neighborhoods to see the extent of the damage for ourselves. We could see Jacksonville State University buildings just to our north but we were not permitted to travel there either. We understand that assessments may still have been being undertaken and they didn't want unnecessary cars or onlookers on the streets, but still we were disappointed that we did not get to help any property owners today. So before heading back to the Community Center to sign out for the day we decided to stop at the church once again to see what might have been done with the tree that had fallen on its property. The power company had just removed the tree from the street and were resetting power poles when we arrived. So at least we could cut some branches there, pile up the debris and clean up the parking lot, thereby helping the church in that small way. So we came home knowing that we accomplished a little, at least.

Before (note that the tree fell from the property across the street and onto the street and the church's parking lot): CFC chainsawyers at work:

Abel on the job: After:

TOMORROW and beyond...

We expect that our chainsaw team(s) will be needed at least through the end of this week, and maybe even beyond that, once all the area properties have been assessed and the power lines have been dropped so teams can get in and work safely. Our plan going forward is to meet each morning - as many as can participate - between 8:30 and 9:00 am at the Jacksonville Community Center, 501 Alexandria Road SW, 36265 (your GPS should take you right to it). Once you've signed your forms and you've listened to the "safety lecture" one time you will not have to do so again, but you will have to pick up a color-of-the-day wrist band each day. That's how they plan to regulate and monitor access to the work sites. For those leaving from the west or south of Birmingham, please know that your travel time will be approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes each way. So leave in time to get there by 8:30 or so! Cutters will need full PPE to work on our CFC team(s): helmet, eye protection, chainsaw chaps and steel-toed boots. Ear protection is strongly recommended but not required. And of course bring gasoline, bar oil and your chain sharpening tools or replacement chains. Those who have not yet deployed with a CFC team this calendar year will need to complete (just once, as well) an annual CFC participant form, too, which we will make available to you on site. Food and water appeared to be abundantly available today for volunteers but we don't know whether we'll be able to make it back to the community center for lunch in the days ahead so we always recommend you bring a lunch, water and electrolyte replacement hydration. Remember your sunscreen and insect repellent. We've found that having a lawn chair, too, is nice for rest breaks.

If you cannot work with us this week, may we ask that you pray for our safety as we work and that you especially pray for the survivors of the storms who we will serve, that they will know that our Lord Jesus Christ will never forsake them, and that He will always love them and lift them up with hope no matter how devastating any storms may be. As always, please remember to stay in touch with us by reading our blog at cuttersforchrist.bolgspot.com from time to time!

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