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The Tuscaloosa News published a feature Sunday about Robert Reed, manager of the Crescent Mobile Homes Estates trailer park, who rescued 12 of his neighbors from the rubble after the tornado struck.

Reed is a former college football player who still works out religiously, but he says even that can’t account for the feats of strength he displayed on April 27.

John Hayes, a resident of the park, watched Reed rescue his wife and mother who were trapped under a wall and a large, double-door refrigerator. 

“He picks it up on its side like it was nothing, and threw it over,” Hayes said. “I don’t know how he done it, but you do extraordinary things that you don’t know how in times like these.”

• Gene Stallings, former UA players chip in: Add national championship-winning coach Gene Stallings to the list of high-profile volunteers helping Tuscaloosa after the storm. Stallings showed up in Holt Saturday with more than 140 former Crimson Tide football players to help clean up. 

  Before the storm, Stallings had scheduled a reunion with his former players in Tuscaloosa, but the coach changed his plans and extended the invitation to all former UA football players. 

  “It just wasn’t the right thing to do with so many people here hurting,” Stallings said. “So we decided to turn it into a work day.”

• Historic neighborhoods in jeopardy: The Tuscaloosa News also reported today that some neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa might lose their standing as historic districts. The Downs, Hillcrest and Glendale Gardens had previously received the designation, but it’s unclear if that status will be affected. 

  Glendale Gardens was one of the worst hit, with 14 of the 37 structures in the district being either completely destroyed or “structurally compromised.” The Forest Lake neighborhood was applying for historic district status when the storm hit. 

• Army engineers address environmental concerns of debris removal: Billy Birdwell, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has agreed to remove 1.5 million cubic yards of debris from Tuscaloosa alone, addressed the environmental concerns of the project, saying debris removal is being “handled in an environmentally responsible manner.” 

  “We don’t just dump stuff on the environment,” Birdwell said.

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