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Power crews, volunteers and tornado victims pressed on with their tasks Tuesday despite a steady drizzle and dropping temperatures.

“You do what you got to do and you keep doing it,” said Travis Green, 25, of Childersburg, who was working with crews putting power poles up along Hibernian Street in Pratt City.

Green has been on the job since Wednesday, getting four or five hours of sleep a night.

Nearby, Laura Cox, 59, and her daughter Glenda Thomas, 43, were clad in raincoats, gingerly navigating the remains of Thomas’ house trying to photograph items for insurance purposes.

“The rain does complicate things,” Cox said.

As the rain picked up in the late afternoon, a group of volunteers from New River Fellowship Church in Franklin, Tenn., hustled toward a covered porch for shelter. Their bright orange T-shirts were dirty and wet, but their spirits were high after a day spent clearing debris.

“It’s been a good day. It’s mostly been misting,” said one of the volunteers.

At the Thomas home on Lafayette Street, family members braved the rain to remove final items, expecting that what remained of their condemned house would soon be demolished.

Viola, 71, and Thessolonia, 70, were at home when the tornado struck and found themselves pinned beneath a collapsed wall. Their grandchildren, 10 and 15, and a 40-year-old nephew were able to lift the wall and free them.

“This is just stuff,” Viola said of the lamps and other bric-a-brac being loaded into a pickup. “I’m just happy we are here.”

Then, a nephew lifted an elaborate black hat decorated with white lace from the rubble.

“Oh save that. That’s my best church hat!” Viola called out.

Scott School in Pratt City has been transformed into a Red Cross disaster relief center that serves as both a donation drop-off site and a place where victims could come for a complete suite of supplies and services, including pharmacy, medical care, counseling services, hot meals and snacks, replacement clothing, food and cleaning supplies. AT&T and Verizon Wireless were on hand offering free Internet access and free phone calls.

“All our needs are being met,” said Terrell Rhymes, 32, who was helping his grandmother, who lives in Pratt City, to gather clothes and cleaning supplies.

Robert Kelly, who is serving as volunteer director of the center, said that everything was running smoothly, though there was something of a mismatch between what was coming in and what was needed.

The center has an overabundance of clothing, but some items such as Birmingham city school uniforms, were in short supply.

Mountains of donated bottled water were being shipped offsite to a storage center.

Meanwhile, they needed tarps and indoor and outdoor cleaning supplies, Kelly said.

A steady stream of storm survivors were coming and receiving help. He hoped to see more senior citizens in the coming days. He understood that many had been reluctant to leave their homes. “We need to get them in so we can access what their needs are,” Kelly said.

National NAACP president Benjamin Jealous stopped in after touring effected areas from Pratt City to Tuscaloosa.

Jealous said the NAACP has had representatives working with the Red Cross during disasters since Hurricane Katrina to see that “no community is neglected and that all are responded to.” Jealous noted that the area hit by last Wednesday’s tornadoes were somewhat neglected during the 1998 tornadoes.

But in the current disaster, Jealous was impressed with what he saw.

“Pratt City is an example of everything going right,” he said, noting that people were working across lines of class, race, and geography.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seem anything like this both in terms of the devastation and cooperation,” he said.

Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Spencer at tspencer@bhamnews.com.

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