4:59 pm: The temperature is dropping in Cullman, AL and for those who have yet to have their power restored it will be a cold night.  The volunteers from the Baptist Church are still going strong.  They have been up and down the street where our satellite truck is parked numerous times asking, almost insisting, that people come by the fellowship hall to eat. 

The crews with their chains have made quick work of many of the trees although a lot remains to be done.  This neighborhood, hit so hard and so quick by the winds that whipped through remains in good spirits  Neighbor helping neighbor. 

We have been able to talk to some of the eye witnesses who believe this was a tornado.  They tell us stories –many stories — like that of the 90 year old couple who watched the storm pass right over their home. Today, that couple  took a walk down the street where they have lived for decades, holding hands, looking at what has happened, grateful that it wasn’t any worse.

11:14 am: We are now in Cullman, AL and we’re getting our first look at the devastation.

People are well into the clean up. The buzz of chainsaws and the smell of freshly cut wood surrounds you in this city halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville. The power crews are hard at work trying to restore electricity to the residents. there are tarps on roofs and trees on cars. The disaster relief crew from the Southern Baptist Convention are also here asking residents what they can do to help.

Sometimes it is a comforting word and other times it is physical labor to help residents pick up, clean up, and start over. There is some good news amidst the chaos, there were no serious injuries or deaths. People seem to take comfort in that. There are the usual spectators who have come out to see what is going on but there are also those who have come by just to offer people a fresh baked biscuit or a dry towel.

To see some video of what is going on, visit Jonathan Serrie’s on the scene blog.

8:14 am: It’s a rainy morning in the Southeast. The Atlanta bureau is on the road headed west to Alabama. A fierce set of storms stretched from Arkansas into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas all day Friday and through the night. Thousands of people in the South are waking up without power and will spend their weekend assessing and then fixing the damage left behind by wind, hail and toppled trees. There was also flooding in parts of Kentucky.

Jonathan Serrie will be reporting. Cappy our photographer is behind the wheel of our crew vehicle, she gets props ’cause she paid for breakfast. Jeff Burton who is running our satellite truck is about an hour ahead of us. We are all headed to Cullman AL, north of Birmingham along I-65. I am told that all through the area trees are down, and homes with roof and other damage. As soon as we get there we will bring you video and the latest on what the storm left behind.