*About a week after tornadoes ripped through the American south a message popped up in the @morn_eXpress twitter feed... it read: "@winnieawright Turned down an internship with HLN and the Morning Express with Robin Meade so I can stay in Alabama and rebuild." Well, we couldn't let this end there:
My name is Winnie Wright. I am a broadcasting student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I recently applied for an internship with HLN and was looking forward to spending the summer in Atlanta. But after the tornado, I took myself out of the running for the internship. I felt like I had a higher calling, and
that was to be in Tuscaloosa working with the relief efforts. Not long after I made my decision, I was contacted by The Morning Express with Robin Meade team to see if I wanted to blog
about the recovery. I accepted their invitation and so for the
next four weeks I will be giving you a first-hand account of what is going on in Alabama.
Every time I leave Tuscaloosa, people want to talk about the tornado. They ask me how I am, how my friends are, and if my home is okay. Then, I’m asked if I was scared when it hit, or
what it was like, but what they don’t understand is that I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Tuscaloosa doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. We felt the pain. But now, we want to talk
about the future and what we are going to do next. We all have one common goal: restore Tuscaloosa back to its former glory.
As soon as the tornado passed people were on the move. The minute I left my shelter I saw trucks filled with men and chainsaws. I’m not sure they knew where they were going, but they knew there was a neighbor somewhere in need. The entire city rallied together to get to work. No one knew the extent of the damage, but they weren’t going to sit around and wait to be told what to do. FEMA hadn’t arrived, The National Guard wasn’t here. It was just us. Most of the city didn’t even have power, yet everyone wanted to do what he or she could.
When news started pouring in, groups were formed to provide immediate relief. Community leaders, student organizations and churches started putting together teams of volunteers. The University of Alabama let students use the recreation center as a donation drop-off point and a refuge. Student volunteers worked at “the rec” in any way that they could. Students and people in the community were donating clothes, diapers, food, and everything you could imagine.
While at “the rec”, I saw a woman pushing a shopping cart full of animals that she had found in her neighborhood. She knew they were someone’s pets, so she picked them up and took them with her. This led me to wonder, what would become of all the animals that also lost their homes? Was anyone worried about the pets? That’s when I heard that the Humane Society of West Alabama, the Metro Animal Shelter, and Ttown Paws were all coming together to provide relief for the pets. The animals were given a safe place to stay, but they desperately needed donations. After I had done what I could for the people staying at the shelter, I went and bought dog and cat food to donate. I would simply want someone to do the same for my pets. When I went to my parents’ house I talked to the manager of a local pet store. I told him what was going on in Tuscaloosa and about the animals. He ended up giving me a business card. He said he would talk to the corporate office about making a large donation for the pets in Alabama. I understand in times of crisis people always consider human life and property first, but I was glad that there are people who shared my same concern for the pets in West Alabama.
The Humane Society and other shelters are still accepting donations. If you would like to help out please visit http://www.humanesocietyofwa.org for more information.
More from Winnie next week right here. Meanwhile, for more ways you can help the people of Tuscaloosa and all of the other cities and towns across the south who were impacted by April's historic tornado event, or who are coping with flood waters up and down the MIssissippi River right now visit CNN.com/Robin and click on the "Impact Your World" icon.
Guest Blogger Winne Wright
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