On March 25, 2021 several deadly tornadoes hit the state of Alabama. Montevallo and the surrounding areas had a lot of damage.

One of the areas that got hit was Columbiana. This is where Dr. Bruce Finklea, an Associate Professor of Mass Communication at the University of Montevallo, has lived all his life.

While he is currently on sabbatical for the Spring 2021 semester, Finklea is making an impact on his community. When the tornado came through, Finklea helped his church organize a relief drive for those in need.

“When the tornado came through last week, we started collecting supplies for the folks that were impacted. The tornado kind of cut all the way across the city so there were several different neighborhoods that were impacted. So we started collecting and distributing supplies and we also started Venmo where people can help directly with tornado relief” Said Finklea.

Finklea says that the tornado made a huge impact on the community

“The National Weather Service issued this tornado as an EF-3. It was very strong. And driving through those neighborhoods, one of the areas hit was Mooney Road and I have friends that live on that road that and I’ve driven up and down that road as long as I could drive. There were cars crushed, there was a van where a tree had fallen on it and looked like the van was just cut in two, several folks from my church had their houses hit.” Finklea explained.

However, Finklea says that the tornado was a chance for people to come together.

“The church does what the church does in these times of disaster. Very quickly we had plans of ‘we’re going to start collecting supplies’ and we’re obviously not the only church that’s doing this. A lot of local churches have done a lot of work. We’ve got more churches that are sending groups out to Columbiana to help with clean up efforts. It’s just been one of things where when your hometown is hit, it’s different seeing it on the news happening hundreds of miles away and stuff like that, but we came together and looked after our own and did everything that we could to help.” Said Finklea.

To learn more about the relief efforts at First Baptist Church of Columbiana you can visit their Facebook page here.