Americus, Georgia: Another Tornado Disaster

The devastation is incredible. My husband went to Americus, Georgia with a group from our church today. For those of you who don't already know, Americus was devastated by the same system of tornadoes that hit Enterprise, Alabama. Around 17 tornadoes hit Americus and wiped out the hospital, several large businesses and hundreds of homes.

I have heard that as many as 8 people were killed in Americus, but I don't know for sure.

The crew said the pictures just don't do the magnitude of the destruction justice. The first picture is a picture of the first house my husband and his group worked on. The owners of the home were elderly. One of the problems with their situation is that they were told insurance will not pay for their yard to be cleaned. Not even if trees are completely blocking the entrance.

The man in the picture below is 74 years old. My husband said he worked harder than anyone and didn't slow up all day.

Below is a picture of my brother-in-law chainsawing away. He loves to use his chainsaw and I am told he is really good at it.

The crew at the end of the day. My husband is the one at the end on the right.

This is the first house after the crew had finished.

These elderly ladies live in the first house the crew cleaned. Smiling faces after the clean-up.

My husband said when they first rolled into town there were Army helicopters flying all over the place. He found out later that most of the helicopters were securing the air for President Bush and other dignitaries to view the destruction from the air. Later that day he was crossing one of the major streets on foot when he overheard one of the police radios say President Bush would soon be coming down the street. He asked the officer if he could stay there to take a picture of the entourage when it came by. The officer okayed it with the Secret Service, so the pictures of the black SUV's are of President Bush's entourage.