Barry Pounders, the leader of the Phil Campbell Rescue Squad for the last 30 years, discussed his view of how far the community has come in the five years since the tornadoes of April 27, 2011.
Over the years, the Rescue Squad has been an integral part of the Phil Campbell community. Many times, the citizens of Phil Campbell depend on the Rescue Squad when there is an emergency and they need to be transported to a hospital.
After the town was devastated on April 27, 2011, there was a need for survivors to be transported from the wreckage to hospitals in the surrounding area. The best way for this to be done was by the Rescue Squad.
Chief Pounders discussed the efforts to get through to the survivors and the response from the surrounding area.
“We had a good response from all the EMTs and the people in the squad to go out in the field to help," he said. "Of course, we also had the volunteer fire departments all around us clearing paths. Our first big issue was getting a path cleared so we could get in and out of areas with equipment and people."
The changes that have come about in the last few years are evident to those who have lived in the area for a number of years. To Pounders, a lifelong resident of Phil Campbell, the biggest changes have been the school being rebuilt and the decline of the rental business.
“I think that after the school was rebuilt and returned to service, that was the biggest plus we’ve had," he said. "Then there’s still most of the rental houses that were destroyed in the storm and were never rebuilt. People didn’t have insurance and just fell out of it, so for quite a while there wasn’t much of a market for rentals in the area. I guess too not that many people wanted to rent in Phil Campbell, but that was something that we saw."
Pounders said that if he could say anything to the community for the five-year anniversary, he would urge residents to be thankful that many of them were spared, and to be thankful for what was not lost in the destruction.
“I think the wounds are hard to heal," Pounders said. "I know with losing that many people and so many people being affected by it, I think a lot of people are now trying to move on and get on with their life. We just have to thank the good Lord that the storm spared us and spared our building."
