PIEDMONT – Gently, a worker wiped the small boy's pale face. After he had finished, he and two more men slowly lifted the lifeless child and slid him into the black bag.With a zip, the boy was covered. The bottom of the bag was rolled up several times to fit its occupant's size. It was never meant to hold anything so small.
Silently, the workers moved on to the next victim, one of at least 23 Alabamians killed by the deadly tornados that swept through Calhoun and neighboring counties Sunday.
THE ROW of bodies stretched nearly the length of the main room in the Alabama National Guard Armory. The dead, worshipers crushed during a service at Goshen United Methodist Church, lay side by side in their Sunday best on the cold concrete floor.
Outside the back door, a quartet of hearses waited to be pressed into service. Family members would later come sign release forms so their loved ones could be moved to funeral homes.
Inside the armory Sunday afternoon, a handful of residents talked quietly and comforted each other.
“We won't be over this - we won't be over this forever, really,'' mayor and longtime resident Vera Stewart said, her voice breaking as she looked over the victims. She pressed a hand to her mouth. ``It's heart wrenching. It will devastate our town.''
MRS. STEWART had come to the armory because a friend had asked her to see if her elderly brother and sister were among the dead.
They were. Mrs. Stewart began a sad process other friends and family members would continue throughout the day: identifying their friends and loved ones as casualties of the storm.
``It's the most chilling thing you'll ever do,'' said Mrs. Stewart, who had many friends among the more than 100 people attending the Goshen church worship service. ``Your blood turns to ice.''
She shook her head again as workers tended to another young victim, one of at least seven children killed by the storms.
``Oh, that little child.''
ACROSS TOWN at the civic center, Leeann Scarbrough waited for news of another child, Hannah Clem, the 4-year-old daughter of Kelly Clem, one of her closest friends and the pastor of the destroyed Goshen church. The two women - both ministers -moved to the area during the same week almost five years ago.
``The waiting is the hardest,'' said Rev. Scarbrough, pastor at the First Presbyterian Church. A few hours later, the bad news would come that little Hannah was among the dead.
``We're really grieving for our friends because we have children, too,'' Rev. Scarbrough said this morning. ``We can't comprehend it, the grief that everyone is feeling.''
Sunday afternoon at the civic center, city Councilman Bill Baker called out the names of those injured at the church just north of town. The peaceful little community was ripped open when the tornado tore through around 11:35 a.m.
PEOPLE POURED into the center, which had been turned into the storm relief headquarters. They brought blankets, food, towels and other items that may be needed.
``It's the worst thing that has happened here in a long time,'' said Mary Bramley, also a council member. `Just awful.''
Folks Sunday said it will be hard to move on after the devastating storm. This morning they were still assessing damage in other areas.
The town will do all it can to help the families of those killed or injured, Mrs. Stewart said.
``I think it's really bringing us together,'' Mrs. Scarbrough said.``We've had tornados before, but nothing like this. I've never seen anything like it.''
For more, visit the Palm Sunday Special Section.
