Hello all. You haven't seen me around the forum in the past two days, but I wanted to touch base with you all. As some of you may know, I moved from Dallas, TX to Tuscaloosa, AL several years ago.In case you haven't heard, there has been a terrible disaster here. An EF4 tornado that was nearly a mile wide hit us here in Tuscaloosa. Me and my family are all-right, however many of our friends completely lost their homes and have nothing but the clothes on their back. Many areas of the town are simply destroyed, while others are badly damaged. To give you an idea of the severity: Today we tried our best to assist in the relief effort. The situation is so bad that the search and recovery is still on-going. The army is onsite, as well as the National Guard, and Coast Guard. There is a continuous stream of coroner vans leaving the disaster area, and any death counts thus far are painfully inaccurate. There were Army and Coast Guard helos dropping soldiers and rescuers into the disaster zone by air because some places are simply not reachable by vehicle at this point. Tuscaloosa metro has a population of 210,800 people. Hundreds of thousands are still without power, and some don't even have running water. The petrol stations are drained and the basic items like bottled water and toilet tissue are not in stock at any store that wasn't affected by the tornado.I ask that all of you be thinking about the people here, and wish them your best.I wanted to share some video of the effects that I took while driving through town to try to get to our friends who's house was completely destroyed, but as we have no internet, and for the most part no cell service, I can't upload anything. Right now, I am using a sprint card plugged into my computer, and am managing to get some service. If you want to see some pictures taken by the news channels, you can see the links below.http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Dato=20110428&Kategori=FRONTPAGE&Lopenr=428009999&Ref=PH&pl=1http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Dato=20110427&Kategori=FRONTPAGE&Lopenr=427009997&Ref=PH&pl=1http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Dato=20110428&Kategori=FRONTPAGE&Lopenr=428009998&Ref=PH&pl=1http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Dato=20110427&Kategori=FRONTPAGE&Lopenr=427009996&Ref=PH&pl=1However...I did want to mention that AF1 is coming to town tomorrow. I was at the airport earlier today, and had the opportunity to stand on the observation deck on top of the terminal of the airport here in Tuscaloosa (Tuscaloosa Regional KTCL). I saw to C-17's come in. At first, I thought they were just bringing in more supplies and personnel like the C-130's before, but actually they had very interesting payload.....The first one landed, and out of the back of the C-17 came secret service SUV's and other equipment. Then, a VH-3D, (Marine One Helicopter) pokes his tail out of the back of the plane. I could hardly believe it! Marine One was right infront of me. The second C-17 contained more motorcade vehicles and equipment, as well as a bunch of secret service personnel. The C-17's left, and the service got to work. They started marking and measuring where Air Force One will park. They were setting up all sort of equipment, and making arrangements. There was an entire Semi-Trailer full of their equipment. The best part is that I got to watch all of this from the balcony of the terminal right above.I took pictures and video of the C-17's and the secret service with my iPhone, but my connection is so bad right now that I don't know if I can upload anything. I will do my best to upload a couple pictures tonight.Anyway...I would love to watch Air Force One tomorrow, but they are keeping the arrival time secret, and I imagine that the airport will be so secure that I wont be able to get within a mile of it. Oh well...I'll be looking for the TFR's to show up, and that should give me some indication. Anyway, this has been a once-in-a-lifetime event in many ways: First, I witnessed first-hand a terrible disaster, but I also got to see secret service setting up for AF1 arrival.Take care everybody, and send your love here, we need it!Cheers.

Okay, here are the pictures that I said I'd try to post. I had to greatly lessen the quality because I'm running off of a cell-phone connection in an area where most cell towers are down.Here Marine One is being unloaded from the C-17.Here Marine One is completely unloaded.Here you can see them unloading the second C-17. (Both were on the ground at the same time)The next two pictures are of secret service vehicles. They both have some sort of contraption on the top of the SUV with antennas and other stuff.Again, sorry for the quality. I'd like to upload the high performance C-17 take-off video once I get internet back. He was wheels up at 1800 feet, then he stayed low above the runway until the end of the runway. Then they pitched straight up and went into a banking vertical climb.Take care folks.

Ethan,Thanks for sharing, I saw those tornados on the morning tv news today, my heart goes out to everybody affected.Stay safe, Bruce.

Okay, here are the pictures that I said I'd try to post. I had to greatly lessen the quality because I'm running off of a cell-phone connection in an area where most cell towers are down.Here Marine One is being unloaded from the C-17.Here Marine One is completely unloaded.Here you can see them unloading the second C-17. (Both were on the ground at the same time)The next two pictures are of secret service vehicles. They both have some sort of contraption on the top of the SUV with antennas and other stuff.Again, sorry for the quality. I'd like to upload the high performance C-17 take-off video once I get internet back. He was wheels up at 1800 feet, then he stayed low above the runway until the end of the runway. Then they pitched straight up and went into a banking vertical climb.Take care folks.

My family and I wish all of you good luck in these times.All the best wishes from Holland,Wijnand and family (EHBK)

Best wishes from Frankfurt/Germany, too. I hope the situation will become better really fast...I also thank you for showing us pictures of the preparations for AF1 arrival... i think nobody of us can really imagine your situation.I hope that all of you will receive lots of help .Alex

All the best for you, your family and all the inhabitants of Tuscaloosa in this hard time. Hope you get back on your feet soon.Regards,...........Matheus de Barros

Hi EthanBest wishes to you and your family and to everyone touched by this tornado. We hope everything will come together soon. We will remember you all in our prayers.Take some pics of Airforce One if you can. At least thats exiting :( Kind Regards from South Africa

Hi Ethan,Best Wishes from Como, Italy.We are praying for you. We hope soon you could return to a normal lifeCiaoAndrea Buono

Thanks for the updates Ethan, I really wish your friends and your family, all the best, and nothing But the best. God knows why he did it, and God knows he can solve it and it's just that he will do.

Happy to hear you and your family are ok,God Bless

Thank you everybody for your great support! I posted here, not for sympathy, but to advise people of the situation. Nonetheless the care and concern is greatly appreciated. You all are a great group of people who care about each other and aviation. Thanks again for your support!If I can get a picture, I will upload it! I have my tranceiver tuned to the approach frequency so maybe I can rush out to the perimeter fence when I hear him coming. I asked my friend in the tower if he'll be in contact with the civil frequencies on his approach, and he said yes, so that's nice. Ahah! I'll tell you what I'll do...I'll try to use my voice recorder on my iPhone to record the tranceiver audio. Then I can upload it here!Until next time. =)

Hi Ethan I hope that all your friends & family get back to normal very soon.My best wishes go out to you & all the people that have been affected by these storms the past few days.All the best!!

By the way, some of the equipment on top of the SUVs allows them to listen in on cell phone traffic within the immediate area. I lived in Waco when Bush was president so Air Force One became a common sight; the Secret Service chastised people for going to the airport and calling people on their cellphones and discussing Air Force One's arrival.

Im glad your ok, but Japan needs support to, but things really are getting better. My mate who lives in sendai survived the tsunami but lost his house. Few days ago he came to mine with his family. Im so relived that he and his family are ok. And very cool to see AF1. I remermber I was driving back on the highway, in the distance I saw a 747 departing haneda. It wasn't ANA it was AF1!Joe Barton

Good to hear you're alright man. I have a lot of friends in Alabama. My prayers go out to everyone affected by these storms.