Just in: over 53 lives and properties destroyed in Tuscaloosa.

04-27-11 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — I started my day on April 27, 2011 expecting to cover storm damage but never to the degree of devastation Tuscaloosa was hit with around 5:00 PM that evening. I photographed this image standing in the back doorway of Shoe Station at McFarland Mall. Dusty Compton, a staff photographer, and Corey Pennington, a web videographer, and I drove together to the Skyland area to photograph the tornado as it headed towards Tuscaloosa. We took shelter in Shoe Station, with employees and customers, as it closed in on our location. Someone opened the back door of the stock room and we all collectively gasped at the scene unfolding in front of us. When it passed, the three of us headed for 15th Street listening to the police scanner. I will never forget the calls coming in over those next moments. I knew my life, town, and job would not be the same. As we approached the intersection of 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard the scene in front of us was surreal. Seeing businesses and homes I pass daily reduced to rubble in seconds haunts me to this day. I didn’t know what to do so I just kept shooting. I wanted to capture everything, which was impossible because there was so much. Since that day we continue to cover tornado related stories every week. The people I meet during the recovery process and their stories will always be close to my heart. ***Original cutline*** A tornado moves across the skyline in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Michelle Lepianka Carter / Tuscaloosa News)