In the Path of Destruction: The Tuscaloosa Tornado Aftermath

University of Alabama Athlete Tells Her Story

By Katie Hancock

I can’t believe it’s already been one month since storms left this town in shambles, but in some sense, it feels like a lifetime ago. There are times when it is so easy to be taken back to the exact moment, and others where it seems so long ago that my mind is unable to recall the foggy reality. However, the ever-constant presence of the Lord has remained.

I am a lucky one. Of the thousands left homeless, hundreds left injured, dozens left unaccounted for, and 41 who lost their lives, I was extremely blessed. I have my home, my friends, and my life--but I have been impacted beyond words by the 4/27 tornado. Here is my story:

On Wednesday, April 27, at 4:55 a.m., I was in the closet of the inner-most bedroom in my house, waiting out the first of some 300 tornadoes that would later devastate Alabama. The tornado passed over relatively harmlessly and my roommate, my mom and I went back to bed to catch a couple more hours of sleep before the day began. We never could have dreamed how that day would end.

At 3:30 that afternoon I set off to my last class at the University of Alabama. Having seen the day’s coverage of the weather, we knew the storms were going to hit Tuscaloosa by nightfall, but on to class I went--unaware of the severity of the tornado watches and warnings.

“Dead in the Path” of the Country’s Worst Storm

Ten minutes after I got to class, the sirens in my building went off and all classes were dismissed in an effort to clear campus. The meteorologists predicted that the university was dead in the path of what was quickly becoming the worst storm to hit the country. I made the--somewhat arrogant, but in retrospect quite Spirit-led--decision to stay on campus to ride out the storm. Having been four weeks out of knee reconstruction surgery, the idea of having to run to my car and find safety seemed unwise to me.

So I, along with about 10 classmates, made our way to the bottom floor of the building with 100 or so other students as we watched from a computer screen the live coverage of the tornado making its way straight toward us. I can honestly say that as we saw the enormity of this storm, the entire group drew silent and it was as if you could hear terror sink in. My mom, who was transporting my “handicapped self” to and from class, made it into the building and we bunkered down.

Asking God for a Protective Bubble over the Campus

As we started to hear the roar of the storm and felt the pressure on our bodies, my mom noticed a girl sitting next to us in tears. I got up, walked over, and sat down with her, asking if she would mind me praying for her. She skeptically accepted and I was able to pray, for the first time since the terror sunk in, for the university and for our town. I don’t remember a lot of what I prayed, but because I had been witness to the amazing things He was doing here, I do remember asking God to place a protective bubble over the campus to protect the students. I would later come out from our shelter and find that is exactly what He did. The tornado, headed straight for Bryant-Denny Football Stadium, turned right and headed parallel to campus. Not one building on campus suffered damage.

We were cleared to leave about an hour and a half after taking cover and I left campus to find what I can only describe as hell on earth. It looked as if a bomb had gone off. Some of the most densely populated student-housing areas were hit and left in nothing but piles of wood. The storm stayed on the ground for some 30 miles, and with a width of three-fourths of a mile, we were told that one-seventh of our town was destroyed.

Sheer Terror to the Point of Nausea

I knew my three closest friends were together in an apartment in the middle of those wood piles that used to be houses. In my life I had never experienced sheer terror to the point of nausea, but that’s exactly how I would describe that moment. I frantically tried to get in touch with them and consider it nothing but a miracle that I reached them and heard they were safe. I have heard horror stories from the remainder of that night, but by the grace of God I was able to reach all friends and teammates within 24 hours and found them alive.

The remainder of my story is where I have been able to experience God’s goodness and healing. The Lord placed me, and the three girls mentioned above, in a very unique position. All three of them had totaled cars, and two of them lost their homes. The four of us have been very active throughout the years with Athletes in Action here at the university. In fact, one is the AIA intern on campus, and two of us are headed off to Mexico for a one-year assignment with AIA in the fall. So it is very cool for us to see how God was and is using the AIA team in Tuscaloosa through this storm.

Distributing Supplies in Twelve-Hour Shifts

The areas of destruction left in the wake of the tornado were immediately off-limits to cars, but the four of us were able to access a couple of all-terrain utility vehicles with storage in the backs. With these four-wheelers we were able to take food, water, charcoal, batteries and other necessities into those devastated areas to families otherwise incapable of getting needed supplies. We did this for about a week and a half after the storm, sometimes for 10- to 12-hour shifts. We consistently saw how the Lord provided us with the food, water, etc., if we were only willing to be the hands and feet to distribute them. It brings a whole new meaning to the idea of the “body of Christ” as we saw people approach us with truck-beds of supplies who were unable--in such large vehicles--to reach those families. The more we trusted the Lord to provide, the greater He showed up.

One of the most rewarding experiences is hearing the stories of the survivors. They needed compassionate listeners and prayers more than they needed food and water--we quickly saw the broader reason why God placed a core group of believers inside the wreckage. These people were thirsty to know that God loved them, and desperate to see that the church was going to give them hope in their time of greatest despair. I was brought to tears as I saw the reality of the situation and heard the survivors proclaim that material possessions were just that--merely things, but what they treasured, what was really valuable and of ultimate importance, was Jesus.

Helping Samaritan’s Purse Bring Long-Term Relief

Since then, most of the efforts have been refocused from rescue to long-term relief and clean up. We have decided that our efforts are best directed toward Samaritan’s Purse, where we regularly go to volunteer. They are a great organization with a real heart for this town and we consider it a blessing to be able to contribute. Most of the jobs include clearing debris, tarp and repairing roofs, and illuminating the presence of Christ by being the messengers of His love.

Hundreds of Stories of God’s Miracles

We have heard hundreds of stories of Jesus impacting the lives through all we encountered, and all agree that it has been nothing short of life-changing. One of our favorite stories comes after rescuers found a three-year-old boy in a walk-in freezer five days after the storm. The boy was unharmed, and the freezer was the only thing remaining of the establishment. When asked how he knew to get in the freezer, he replied, “A man with wings led me.” Enough said.

Although the process is slow and we probably will not see results of our physical labor for years to come, we are assured that the day will come where we will be witnesses to the eternal significance the Lord has allowed us to have in this devastation. It is the most rewarding experience to wake up to a town that consistently praises the God of all creation, even in the midst of this storm.

I constantly refer back to what has become my favorite verse at the moment and find, if only for a second, a residing peace beyond all understanding: Isaiah 54:11 (Contemporary English Version), "…you are sad and discouraged, tossed around in a storm, but I, the LORD, will rebuild your city..." May the glory always be God’s.

Katie was a senior on the women’s basketball team at the University of Alabama this year and actively involved in Athletes in Action on the campus when the 2011 tornado hit Tuscaloosa. She went on the AIA women's basketball team to Mexico in 2010 and plans to do a one-year internship with AIA in Puebla, Mexico, starting in the fall.

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