Cleanup continues in Enterprise
Posted by Birmingham News staff March 02, 2007 11:26AM
ENTERPRISE -- The sounds of Thursday's police and ambulance sirens have been replaced today by the sounds of chainsaws and heavy trucks in this southwest Alabama town devastated by violent storms.
As recovery began downtown and in the neighborhood surrounding the ruins of Enterprise High School, police and National Guard troops stand guard.
A powerful twister ripped through the town of 23,000 Thursday shortly after 1 p.m., killing at least eight at the high school.
"We were supposed to get out at 1," said Anna Greenwood, a senior at Enterprise High. "It got so bad, that by 1:10 the school was destroyed."
She was in a hallway near the bandroom when the storm blew in, and walked out minutes after it passed over. "As soon as I walked through the door, I looked to my right, and there was no school," she said.
Greenwood said she saw some students and teachers trapped and some were bleeding. "It was bad," she said, adding that everywhere there were people who were hurt.
All Enterprise schools are closed today.
Bobby and Carolyn Wyatt stood this morning in their yard, covered with fallen trees, near the high school. The Wyatts have lived in their home 38 years.
"We were blessed. God blessed us," Bobby Wyatt said. "I've never seen it this bad in Enterprise." His brick, ranch-style home sustained minor damage in the storm.
His neighbor across the street wasn't quite as lucky. The man's home was gutted by the high winds and rain. The roof was ripped away, and only a few walls of the house remained.
Joseph D. Bryant
Yesterday was a scary day for most of the state.
Update: More info available, as well as photos of President Bush's visit at: http://www.al.com/
To offer help: http://www.servealabama.gov
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