Tuscaloosa, AL – As morning broke, disaster response crews mobilized at The Salvation Army’s temporary Incident Command near the Tuscaloosa Airport.
Lt. Jerry Williams, Incident Command Coordinator, wants people in the area to know “We’re on the ground. We were there yesterday, we’ll be there tomorrow and we’ll stay until this disaster ends!”
Three mobile emergency canteens were dispatched this morning to distribute drinks and foods to disaster victims and relief workers in the affected areas of West and Central Alabama. Mobile disaster canteens were brought in from Selma and Mobile, AL, Jacksonville, Panama City and Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Columbus, MS to aid disaster relief efforts.
The current locations (12:30pm) are: The Forrest Lake neighborhood (15th Street and Hackberry), Holt High School, and in Alberta area on 14th Street and Kicker. Additional mobile disaster canteens are en route from other areas and will be dispatched to critical areas when they arrive.
Along with distributing food and drinks, they will also collecting monetary donations and disaster relief items of immediate need: Unopened hygiene items, new cleaning supplies, new/unused clothing, bottled water, packaged snack foods, new packs of batteries and new flashlights.
The Tuscaloosa Corps facility and local emergency canteen were heavily damaged in the April 27th tornado, rendering the facility and local mobile canteen inoperable. Mobile Incident Command operations at the Tuscaloosa Airport location are working to manage efforts and set up collection and distribution points around the region. Currently, no donations are being accepted at this location as there is a critical lack of storage and distribution resources.
The best way to help tornado survivors and rescue workers is to make a financial contribution. Monetary donations allow disaster responders to immediately meet the specific needs of disaster survivors. The Salvation Army asks those who want to help to visit www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org, text “GIVE” to 80888 for a $10 donation given from your cell phone or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769) and designate their gift "April 2011 Tornado Outbreak." Checks may be made out to:
The Salvation Army Disaster Relief
P.O. Box 100339
Atlanta, GA 30384-0339