About Project Alabama

On Friday April 27, 2011, 55 separate tornadoes, including EF-5 tornadoes packing winds of over 200 mph, roared through the state of Alabama, killing over 300 people. These storms are among the deadliest and most destructive one-day tornado outbreaks in US history, with damage estimates ranging from $2-5 billion. Those who are able are beginning to clear debris from their homes and businesses, but the challenges are great and complex.

All Hands immediately engaged in a state-level support role that allows us to contribute valuable expertise to the on-going early recovery operations focused on connecting affected community members to available resources. We have been requested by the Alabama Governor’s Office for Faith-based and Community Initiatives and Alabama Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (AL VOAD) to provide Coordinative Services in support of the response and recovery efforts underway across the state. We have played a similar support role in the past, most notably in Rhode Island last spring following wide spread flooding across their state. As we did in Rhode Island, in Alabama, we are working closely with a strong statewide 2-1-1 information and referral service to facilitate requests for volunteer assistance.

All Hands is also launching direct volunteer relief efforts, focused on tornado cleanup. Along with debris cleanup, demolition, and tree removal, we will be continually assessing the needs on the ground to see if we can addressing additional short-term needs that arise. There is also the possibility that our volunteer work will be mobile around the state. Prior experience is not necessary when volunteering with us but volunteers with prior chainsaw experience will be given preference during the application process. If you are interested in volunteering with us in Alabama, please click the link below. We plan to be at work until July 15, 2011, with the possibility to extend if the need arises.

Project Completed

Project name

Project Alabama

Project Type

Tornado Response

Project Director

Stefanie Chang

Photos + Video from Alabama

You can view all of our photos and videos on Flickr and Vimeo respectively.

We would like to thank the FEMA Region IV voluntary agency liaisons and the State of Alabama for their collaboration during our assessment, and look forward to working closely with them in the coming months.