Tuscaloosa Mayor Says Faith Helped After Tornado
09.05.11
Hours after a tornado devastated Tuscaloosa, Mayor Walt Maddox couldn't believe what he was looking at — whole stretches of his city just "wiped off the map."
He asked the police sergeant who was driving the SUV — a police chaplain — to pull over.
"Sergeant," he asked Chad Palmer, "will you pray for us and pray for our city?"
Palmer's prayer asked for strength, patience, protection and wisdom. Maddox said it's helped carry him in the aftermath of the April 27 tornado outbreak that pummeled this central Alabama college town, killing at least 41 people, injuring hundreds and leaving still others missing.
"From that point on, I've had this incredible amount of energy and strength," Maddox said late last week.
The Democrat has been mayor since 2005 and had been a former school system personnel director. For him, these have been long days dominated by briefings and visits to ravaged areas. Some nights, he's been able to rest only with the help of a sleep aid. When he wakes, he momentarily forgets the hurting in his city.
Source: NPR