June 3rd, 2011
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Author: TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — After the April 27 tornadoes destroyed or severely damaged 5,000 homes in the Tuscaloosa area, residents looking for apartments or rental homes are finding few options, according to the Tuscaloosa News.
Many whose homes were damaged have rented apartments or other houses, cutting down the number of available units.
Steve Kennedy, president of Sealy Properties, said that more than 98 percent of his company’s 4,000 rental properties are now occupied.
Kennedy said people with low incomes, criminal records or bad credit are having the most difficult time finding places to live. Half of Rosedale Court, one of Tuscaloosa’s public housing complexes, was destroyed in the storm.
Several volunteer groups are working to help alleviate the crunch, but that will take time.
Habitat for Humanity is ramping up its activity in Tuscaloosa in response to the storm. The group had planned to build two homes in the area before the storm, but now hopes to have as many as 10 built by the end of this year.
The group, which operates out of Woodland Baptist Church, has tried to focus on small towns outside the Tuscaloosa city limits that may have been neglected in other recovery efforts.
“I traveled to Greensboro yesterday and those people are helpless,” Project Blessings volunteer Allie Wilborn said. “They’re sitting on their rubble with absolutely nothing.
“That’s where we need to get the word out that in those small towns [near] Tuscaloosa, nobody realizes how bad it is. One swipe through a small town and it’s gone.”
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