SELMA, Ala. – As Pearlie Miller stood outside her home in Selma, Alabama, on Friday morning, she failed to appreciate the damage caused by the destructive tornado that ripped through the town the day before.
An insurance adjuster had already done that for her — and found that the entire left side of her home had been blown in, and the wrought-iron posts on her porch barely supported the roof. After a direct hit by the tornado, the building could no longer be saved. She would have to grab what she could and find somewhere else to live.
Cold wind whipped around her, and as she looked at the house where she had lived with her sisters, she thought not of what was lost. She thought of her gratitude for her safety and that of her neighbors.
“It’s just God’s grace,” Miller said. “But Selma is alive.”
The city is famous for its historic sites: Pettus Bridge, which commemorates the Selma to Montgomery march; Brown Chapel AME Church, where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference worked with local activists during the Selma movement; and the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, founded in 1991 and opened near the bridge.
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The devastation in Selma stretches for miles in a diagonal path across the historic city. Several people sustained injuries, and at least one was severe enough to require rush to a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Hundreds of homes and businesses have broken windows and roofs in their front yards. Fallen trees and broken power lines hang over streets. At one point, 19,000 people in the area were without power.
Despite all the damage, Selma has not reported any casualties. At least nine deaths have been reported in the rest of the state.
“The tornado came in and split our city. It was devastating,” Mayor James Perkins said in a news conference on Friday.
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Since the storm, the historic city has attracted national attention. The American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at the local high school, members of the US Congress offered help, and donations of time and clean-up efforts were received.
The tornado spared some important historical sites associated with King, such as the Brown Chapel AME Church, which was the starting point for the Selma to Montgomery suffrage marches. But it left some exterior damage to historic homes like Sturdivant Hall and Grace Hall.
“I believe the historical nature of Selma will draw the world’s eyes to our disaster,” US Rep. Terri Sewell told the Montgomery Advertiser. “The Selma name helped us mobilize resources. I just want to make sure they are channeled properly.”
The downtown district of Selma is where the late Amelia Boynton Robinson, a Selma suffrage strategist and matriarch of the civil rights movement, convinced King to get involved with the movement in hopes that he would help nationalize the suffrage campaign . Here, on March 7, 1965, the late Georgia Congressman and suffrage icon John Lewis was nearly beaten to death by state cops while crossing Pettus Bridge.
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However, some residents are wondering why their city’s history is being used to mobilize aid — why the people who have lost their homes aren’t reason enough for others to care for them.
“Selma has a rich history, but we’re in the present,” Miller said. “Yes, things can get lost, but we have archives that keep that history. Now we need to focus on our community, rebuilding and making sure everyone is okay. The historical part should just fade into the background.”
On Friday morning, Miller stood outside her home and turned to look at her neighbors’ houses across the street. There was a tree on one.
The woman living there is completely dependent on the care of others. When the tree fell and destroyed her house, the woman could not get out. Miller’s sisters were able to call for help, and their neighbor was removed from the home unharmed.
“At least everyone is safe here,” Miller said. “We’re just starting over.”
RB Hudson Middle School history teacher Calvin Marshall was also on Miller’s street Friday morning. Along with a group of his Omega Psi Phi Brotherhood brothers, he went around the neighborhood to help clean up the debris.
“We’ve seen a lot of storms, but this is the worst there’s ever been,” he said. “A lot of neighborhoods get really messed up here for years.”
Marshall plans to volunteer to help clean up for as many days or weeks as his community needs.
As for the story in Selma, he said it’s everywhere.
“Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, so many important people were in this church. They lived with these people,” he said. “Everything is a landmark in Selma, and if that helps us, then fine.”
Contribution: Associated Press
