Memphis, Tennessee, Begins Rebuild After Deadly Tornadoes

Right now, Memphis is a divided city. If you talk to two-thirds of the residents, they have been able to slide back into normal life after the tornadic activity that scarred the city half to death on Tuesday night. But for the other one-third, who are fighting to meet with insurance adjusters while dealing with inconsiderate employers, the battle to redefine normal is becoming a full-time job.

All of Memphis had winds and rain on Tuesday as winds over fifty miles an hour and rain pummeled the city that sits on the Mississippi River bluff. With a population nearing 700,000 Memphis is a sizable city with massive pockets of highly populated areas. Most of those areas went relatively unscathed from tornadoes ripping trees, shingles, and windows away. But for residents that live in Hickory Hill, near the suburb of Southaven, and in the Cordova area their struggle seems to be remaining important to a city that has to get back to work while they try to rebuild after losing everything.

On 88.5FM, the city school's public radio station, the morning disc jockey read a letter from a woman who lives in Hickory Hill whose boss made coming to work on Thursday mandatory while she needed to be at home because insurance adjusters were supposed to stop by and looters were hitting houses up and down her street the previous day. How do you choose between going to work when your mind is going to be on your home and staying home hoping you don't get confronted by angry individuals looking to take whatever is valuable?

It's a problem many in Hickory Hill near New Direction Christian Church and in Cordova are facing with their homes having their windows, doors and roofs hanging by a thread. Like the aftermath of a hurricane, peoples homes are open doors for looters and citizens, criminals, and local officials know it. Which is why, a task force needs to be set up to protect homes as much as the attention has gone to protect commercial property like the Hickory Ridge Mall which sustained massive damage to two of its largest stores, Sears and Macy's.

It will be some time before the mall opens again. But people have to go to sleep at night, hoping that no one slips through that open window while their eyes are closed. With all of that, one thing is being shown is the spirit and heart of Memphis. On one street in Hickory Hill only one home out of seven or eight survived the high winds and it was the home all the other residents slept in on Tuesday night as families, friends and neighbors came together to encourage and support one another.

Memphis has one of the highest crime rates in the country. But when times get hard and the city is forced to look at itself one undeniable fact is that it will always stand together. Because in the end, all the citizens have is each other. That spirit, the heart of a champion has come through time and time again since Tuesday's storm as tears have been wiped away by strangers who just want to lend a shoulder to cry on or a hand to help up. It was this same metal, this courageous heart that will help Memphis do the difficult task of rebuilding.

Memphis will be alright because of its people. Yesterday Dept of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen toured the damaged region of West Tennessee and promised swift federal support. With Memphis and Jackson still reeling from Tuesday's damage, the leadership of the city and the heart of its people will do more than help the city rebuild, it will help it move on.

And if you ask the people in New Orleans, those are the two ingredients you need.