I've been pretty inactive on the forum lately. I'm sure many of you have seen the news and heard about the terrible storms that spawned over 200 tornadoes (last count I saw anyway) and killed over 300 people in the south, including over 200 in Alabama alone. Fortunately my house and family were spared any damage other than being without power for a week, but neighborhoods just last than a couple of miles from me were not so fortunate.

There is an extensive cleanup effort going on here in northern Alabama and I've been privileged to help with a lot of it. I snapped a few photos on one day of helping, but to be honest I just took a few quick ones before getting back to work.

There's been a lot of tragedy with this storm, but to take away something positive it's to see how many people are working together to help others recover and start to heal. This aspect has been pretty amazing and inspiring.

Hope you all are well.

I had never been in this neighborhood before, but I compared to images from Google Street View and it is totally unrecognizable.






Can't forget this group. They were out all day long, from morning to night, cooking and serving food to everyone that lived there and the 1,000+ volunteers that showed up to help.

[Bob Harris]

Barry, looking at the damage and thinking about the loss of life makes one think of where to begin. I think it must start with people like you that are ready to give their labor of love to the victims of this horrific storm. Thank you for reminding me that you can not take anything for granted and you should live life to its fullest. A disaster like this affects people forever and thanks to people like you, the healing process can begin. Bpb

[charliezap]

Barry-my hat's off to you.Your altruistic contribution is very commendable.--charliezap

[UpNorth]

Glad to hear you and yours were missed by all the devistation Barry. Good to see everyone's starting to get onto that long, slow road to recovery. Keep up the good work.....

Tim

[DRabbit]

Glad you're okay... my best to you and your family and everyone in the area!

[dcmsox2004]

sobering shots... really takes one's breath away.... keeping them in my prayers... dave m

[BlueBubbleBoy]

Barry, looking at the damage and thinking about the loss of life makes one think of where to begin. I think it must start with people like you that are ready to give their labor of love to the victims of this horrific storm. Thank you for reminding me that you can not take anything for granted and you should live life to its fullest. A disaster like this affects people forever and thanks to people like you, the healing process can begin. Bpb

Thank you for the very nice comments, Bob. There are some really amazing people who are organizing efforts for recovery. I'm just happy I can tag along where I can. Like you said though, this storm has been a sobering reminder to remember what's truly important in life.

Barry-my hat's off to you.Your altruistic contribution is very commendable.--charliezap

Thank you, Charlie. There are plenty of people doing much more than I, but again it's been great to see everyone working together.

Glad to hear you and yours were missed by all the devistation Barry. Good to see everyone's starting to get onto that long, slow road to recovery. Keep up the good work.....

Tim

Thank you, Tim. Much appreciated!

Glad you're okay... my best to you and your family and everyone in the area!

Thank you, Amy!

sobering shots... really takes one's breath away.... keeping them in my prayers... dave m

Thank you, Dave. I can see how so many prayers are being answered already.