‘Nothing but splinters.’ Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey tours devastation left by the tornado

Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday toured by helicopter and on foot the devastation wrought by the twisters that killed 23 and left behind a scarred landscape, toppled trees and obliterated homes.

She declared it the worst devastation she’s seen in the state, marveling that as steep a death toll it was, the damage suggests it could have gone higher.

“It’s just a wonder that more people weren’t killed,” Ivey said, even as she noted that the staggering toll from the tornado in Lee County exceeded the number of people killed nationwide by tornadoes in 2018.

“There’s nothing left standing, everything’s in shreds and that means the hopes and aspirations of people at this point are in shreds,” Ivey said. “There’s nothing but splinters left, toothpick size. This is horrendous devastation.”

Yet Ivey, who stopped to talk with Brooke Waldrop, whose stepfather, Marshall Lynn Grimes, 59, was among those killed, said she was impressed by what she had seen.

“The one thing we flat do know is there is certainty in the resiliency of the people of Alabama,” Ivey said. “We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again.”

Ivey called for all flags in the state to be lowered to half-mast until Sunday night at sunset to honor the 23 lives.

She stood for a moment with Waldrop, who lost her stepfather and his fiance, Sheila Creech, 59. Waldrop had returned to the site that was once Grimes’ home, searching for his beloved black leather Christian Motorcyclists Association vest. His Harley-Davidson was found in the wreckage and there’s hope it may run. But the vest remained missing.

“There’s no telling how far it went,” Waldrop said, noting that the vest has a large CMA logo on the back. Grimes was the president of the local chapter.

And she urged motorcyclists to join a motorcade from his funeral at Cornerstone Church on Thursday to the cemetery.

“Anybody that rides a bike, y’all feel free, come to Cornerstone after 2 p.m. and send this man off on his way,” she said. “The more bikes he has, the bigger of a smile he will have.”

Speaking with Ivey later at a press conference at nearby Beauregard High School, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall noted the devastation has sparked giving and cautioned that his office will make sure that the money raised for victims of the tornadoes goes to the victims. He said he’s already talked with the online fundraising site, GoFundMe, to see that the fund-raising appeals are legitimate.

And he said his office will be prepared during the rebuilding process to ensure that those affected are working with licensed contractors. His office, he said, wants to make sure “that those who are already victimized by the storm will not be victimized by someone trying to profit from this tragedy.”

Kathrine Carson, director of the Lee County Emergency Management Agency, defended the country’s early warning system, which some have said didn’t give them enough advance notice to evacuate. She said the National Weather Service began sending out warnings early that day and the county began to echo those warnings through social media, cell phones and a community notification system.

“I don’t lose sleep about what we did to let them know it was coming,” she said. “It doesn’t get any better than what we did.”

She questioned how many people routinely ignore tornado watches. “In the South, most of us have been through tornado watches 100 times. This is the worst of the worst that struck here and people had no protection unless they were underground.”

Earlier in the day, there was a bit of good news with officials announcing that they believe they’ve accounted for all the missing.

“The situation now will move from search and rescue, as it should, to recovery, to assist all the individuals in this area,” said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who said officials are confident that investigators had “shook hands with,” laid eyes on or had contact with family members of the half dozen or so individuals who had been reported missing. He said officials would continue working in the area, along with Smiths Station, to ensure that no one was overlooked.

“I can not express in words how pleased we were to account for the individuals on that list,” Jones said.

At least one missing person is in critical condition in the intensive care unit at a Columbus, Ga., hospital. The man had been admitted under a different name, making it more difficult for rescue teams to identify him, Jones said.

That news came as recovery crews labored to remove debris, the sounds of chain saws and back hoes resonating in the neighborhood.

Two corporations have offered to pay the funeral expenses for all 23 victims and Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said he got a call from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians which offered $50,000 for funeral expenses. The East Alabama Medical Center Foundation has offered to handle the money and disburse it to the families.

Harris said his team would remain on “standby mode” in case any more deaths are discovered, but said “it’s not likely.” At least four individuals remain at hospitals in critical condition. Jones said he was able to visit with Sgt. Robert Burroughs, a state trooper with the Opelika Highway Patrol Post, who was injured when the tornado struck his home.

“He’s pretty banged up, but he’s going to make it and his family is doing well,” he said of Burroughs.

This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 12:36 PM.