First Responder

It will be a long road down here in Alabama.

First – if you are interested in news and feature stories covering the devastation and recovery check into Al.com - the website for the Birmingham News and the Huntsville Times.

In particular this lengthy detailed and heartbreaking story tracing the path of the EF5 that cut north of Huntsville.  

Here is a Google Map track of the path.  

You might want to read this post from local journalist Wade Kwon. It’s very good. 

Here’s a video Wade made of one street in Pratt City.:

Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Tuscaloosa has emerged as a center for helping those who have been affected but who are hesitant to interact with government agencies because of their immigration status. Here’s an article about that.

Victor Tlapanco set out with a team of volunteers April 28 to find people in Hispanic neighborhoods who needed help.

They found homes in Alberta and Holt that had been destroyed. But they couldn’t find any people.

“We couldn’t find anybody, anywhere,” he said.

Being self-sufficient is part of Hispanic culture, he said, which may have discouraged people from seeking help. At first, people had plans to live outside or in their cars, he said.

A lot of people were likely worried about their immigration status, said volunteer Louis Ginocchio, which is why many hid in cars or under storm debris when authorities came through.

Eventually, however, the volunteers located people and persuaded them to come to Holy Spirit Catholic Church. They started with 10 air mattresses and a few storm victims. By early this week, the shelter was housing hundreds of people and was full of clothing, food and other items they will need as they rebuild their lives.

“It was completely grassroots,” Ginocchio said.

(This article doesn’t mention it but another shorter piece here points out how important the Knights of Columbus have been in the efforts at Holy Spirit)

This morning at Mass we were read a letter from Bishop Baker about what the Diocese is doing.

The gist of it is here on this webpage.  - including information on how you can help and donate even from afar.

We also heard about our parish’s ongoing participation in relief efforts (our parish area was not directly affected by the storms) – still collecting items, still sending out work crews to outlying areas.  Such efforts are happening everywhere.

In addition – I want to quote a bit from our pastor’s bulletin note this week:

Last Tuesday Bishop Baker witnessed the 
trailer and tables used for collecting items for 
the tornadoes victims, and in his talk to those 
gathered for the Confirmation of 83 of our 
eighth graders, he complemented the parish 
on being “first responders” for those in need. 
He then picked up on the theme of Christ 
being the First Responder to our desperate 
need to have sins forgiven and that we, in 
turn, should be a responder to others in 
need. 

And finally – this.

“I figured if I passed out, if I died beside my car, that’s no help,” he said.

So he caught his breath. And a thought came to him like a command.

Do what you do!

So he did. He grabbed his camera and began to see outside himself. He breathed as he narrowed his field of vision and lost himself in his work.

I’m not gonna lie (as my daughter likes to say)  ..

…”Do what you do”  is going to echo in my soul for a long, long time.

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