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The authors gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of
Frank Thompson, Exec. Director of the Enterprise Coffee Geneva Economic Development Corporation
NOAA. 2007. NOAA Service Assessment on Enterprise Tornado Demonstrates Need to Build Hazard Resilient Communities. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071129_tornado.html
On March 1, 2007, an EF-4 level tornado drove through the heart of the Alabama community of Enterprise. Eight teenagers died when the tornado destroyed Enterprise High School. The adjacent elemenary school also was struck and destroyed by the same tornado.
The tornado:
NOAA. 2007. Tornados in Southern Alabama and Georgia on March 1, 2007, service assessment. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/AL-GA_tornadoes07.pdf
Nossiter, Adam. 2007. After Tornado, an Alabama School Tallies the Grief. The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/us/03tornado.html?_r=1&oref=slogin (source of above photo)
NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17577
Enterprise's response and recovery
The above photo and all other photoes that follow: 2008 by Mark M. Miller
Enterprise prides itself as the "City of Progress." It's widely noted symbol is the "Boll Weevil monument, which symbolizes the insect pest that forced the city to diversify its economy beyond its origins as a cotton center. This "City of Progress" spirit reflects the city's efforts to respond, recover, and redevelop since the 2007 tragedy.
Roney, Marty. 2007. Ala. students graduate in wake of vicious storm. USA Today. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-30-enterprise-graduation_N.htm
Mayor Boswell is widely credited for quick and decisive leadership in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, and well as the longer-term recovery of the city.
Kenneth Boswell, mayor of Enterprise, Ala., received the Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery by a Public Official. On March 1, 2007, a killer tornado struck the south Alabama city. Immediately, Mayor Boswell urged frantic city workers to “calm down, answer the phone calls and give the appropriate information.” He soon learned two schools were destroyed, and eight teenagers were killed when a roof collapsed. Boswell contacted the parents, making grief counselors and clergy available. To protect the families from the media glare, Boswell had the children’s bodies removed from the rubble and taken to a local mortuary – instead of to the mobile morgue. The parents were able to grieve in privacy. Boswell’s quick thinking, leadership and communications skills guided Enterprise through the tragedy, and inspired the community to recovery together. U.S. Small Business Administration. 2008. SBA Honors Outstanding Disaster Recovery Efforts. Retrieved June 30, 2008: http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/
sba_homepage/news_release_08_40.pdf
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Tornado-damaged home in repair (all images April 2008) |
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Temporary Enterprise High School facilities on local Enterprise-Ozark Community College campus |
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Future home of EHS, on new site |
This case study website remains a work in progress. Please stay tuned.
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