On Thursday the city council took its first steps toward rebuilding Tuscaloosa after last week’s devastating EF-4 tornado. At a city planning meeting, the council was briefed on damage assessment strategies and placed a temporary ban on new construction in hopes of gaining tighter control of the redevelopment of Tuscaloosa.
According to Planning and Development Services Director John McConnell, an assessment team of 40 specialists will begin assessing the damage of individual buildings this weekend. Each building in the damage zone areas will receive a placard, with green placards denoting safe buildings, yellow denoting buildings that need repairs and red denoting structurally unsafe buildings.
“It’s important for us to get out there as soon as possible and do these assessments,” McConnell said.
The council issued a moratorium on the construction of metal buildings until Wednesday. The decision stemmed form the council’s desire to preserve city development plans that have been years in the making. “If we don’t address some of these [metal construction projects], the type of construction built back will not honor those who have suffered,” mayor Walt Maddox said. “I hate how many band-aids we’re having to use, but this is something we could have never imagined.”
At a Friday press conference, Maddox confirmed that the number of missing people has been reduced to 9 and the death count is still at 41. He also stressed the importance of the volunteer credentialing that will begin taking place on Saturday at 8 a.m. at the McAbee Center off Veterans Memorial Parkway. Groups of 50 or more volunteers can preregister by emailing [email protected].
While there are still 12 search and rescue teams scouring the county, housing needs are becoming a growing concern for government officials. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already received more than 7,200 applications for assistance and dispersed $11 million in its first round of aid to Tuscaloosa County.
Debris removal will be a key first step to provide locations for setting up temporary housing for storm victims. Maddox said there are between one and two million cubic yards of debris on the ground at the moment. In comparison, the April 15 tornado in Tuscaloosa produced 15,000 cubic yards of debris. Full debris removal could take as long as a year, Maddox said.
According to Art Faulkner, director of the Emergency Management Agency, Governor Robert Bentley has made a direct request to President Obama for the federal government to cover 100% of the cost of clearing debris from private property in the first 30 days following the tornado. Right now FEMA is covering 25% of the cost.
Faulkner stressed the importance of citizens calling FEMA at 1-800-621-3362 to report damaged property. He pointed to the century-old attitude of the people of Alabama as a reason for the currently low number of FEMA applicants.
“The people of Alabama are a proud people,” Faulkner said. “Alabamians are used to being the ones going out to help others. This isn’t about a handout—it’s about helping yourself and your neighbors.”
Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Hardy McCollum said a complete inventory of all property available for rentals to suit temporary housing needs should be completed by the end of the day.
