Humanitarian

2011 May 4 Wednesday

Following our first flight to Tuscaloosa and distribution of supplies to people in Holt and vicinity, we learned of many outlying rural areas that had not yet received sufficient supplies or assistance, and in which there were both babies and elderly people in need.  These areas included Samantha, Brookwood, Friday Circle, Sawyerville, Coaling, Epes, and others.  Because of the urgency, we organized a second flight as soon as possible.  And thanks to the generosity of compassionate individuals in the Gulf area and of Flightline First at Lakefront Airport, we were again able to act fast by purchasing many of the specifically requested supplies.  

Once again, we filled the plane to maximum capacity; in addition, a large quantity of baby supplies were shipped directly from Lafayette, Louisiana by the generous makers of Fuzzi-Buns diapers.  On this trip we were met by Tuscaloosa locals from the Daystar Family Church, who have set up a very large distribution center for supplies and for volunteers, who are welcomed to stay at church facilities overnight while they work in the rural areas during the days.  They drove me into some of these areas to speak with people and witness firsthand what the tornados had done and the work going on and still needed there.   These photos from today are not for the faint of heart.  We saw where neighborhoods and shopping malls were leveled, where adults and children and babies never made it out alive.  We saw cars and trucks that had been thrown for hundreds of yards, flipped over like pancakes.  Power lines were still down everywhere.  In towns like Alberta City, there seemed to be plenty of cleanup work done and being done, and there were lots of National Guard and other professional crews around.  As we walked by some destroyed structures, we could smell the stench of rotting flesh.  That was the most disturbing reminder of what this tornado really destroyed, far more significant than the structures and the cars and the trees.

A few photos are shown below, and many more are shown in the gallery at the end of this article.  (As always, click on any photo to see an enlarged, higher-resolution version of it.) Also, just prior to the final photo gallery, we list the supplies delivered and total costs for this second flight.  Donations are coming in steadily now to Flightline First at Lakefront Airport; we will be coordinating shipments from there by truck beginning this weekend and continuing next week.

Thanks go again to Gerald and Vickey Maples for providing funds to purchase the supplies, which for this flight included many tools as well as temporary shelters; and to Flightline First of Lakefront Airport in New Orleans for providing discounted fuel when purchased there, and for offering to match at 50% all monetary donations that come in for fuel costs.  Please consider that temporary opportunity to increase the effectiveness of any contribution you might want to make to these efforts!

Read more: Helping Tornado Victims in Alabama - Part 2

2011 April 30

To Gulf shore residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Hurricane Katrina remains a vivid nightmare.  So when one of history's largest and most powerful tornadoes touched down and leveled huge swaths of northern Alabama this past week, the scenes of destruction struck a deep and chilling chord.  On Wings Of Care and several residents of the New Orleans, Lafayette, and Gulfport areas went right to work planning how best to help.  We made lists of critical necessities such as temporary living shelters, baby and medical supplies, basic foodstuffs and some tools.  Instead of waiting for donations to get organized and assembled, we went out and bought most of it, filled our plane ('Bessie', as she is known affectionately to hundreds of grateful people now), and flew to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Sunday, May 1.

Thanks go to the prompt generosity of local Gulf residents for making this quick response possible:  Gerald Maples, who paid $800 for the supplies we bought; Marion and Penny Edwards and Executive Aircraft Charter/Acadian Ambulance, who donated $500 toward airplane operating costs; Brayton Matthews and Flightline First of Lakefront Airport who donated $250 of fuel plus hangar space and a vehicle for shopping and transporting; Robin Young and Jerry Cope who brought over bags of linens and clothing to round out our plane load of supplies.

Bessie was filled to her ceiling, with barely enough room for me to squeeze into the pilot's seat.  Fortunately, strong tailwinds made for a quick trip, putting me at Tuscaloosa airport in just under two hours.  When I landed, I was met by a very tired local friend, John Wathen, who is also a well-known friend to the Gulf since the BP disaster last April.  He looked like he had not slept or stopped to take a breath in days, and his voice was so hoarse he could hardly talk.  He hugged me and wept as he shared that just 20 minutes earlier, as he was leaving to meet me, they had discovered another dead body in the hills behind his house, and there were still over 400 people still unaccounted for.  Then he looked at my plane and cracked what was probably his first smile in days:  "Darlin', how the ___ did you ever get that plane off the ground?!"  As we unpacked it and he saw all that was there, he kept repeating "You are a godsend! This is unbelievable.  This is perfect!"

Read more: Helping Tornado Victims in Alabama - Part 1