President Bush vows federal help for tornado-stricken school
President Bush toured the area of Enterprise, Ala., devastated by a tornado that took the lives of eight students at the local high school. "I want the folks of Enterprise to know that to the extent the government can, our federal government can, in working with the state, we'll help rebuild the school system, this high school," Bush said.
Click here to read The Birmingham News article.
Eight Enterprise (Ala.) High School students were killed when a tornado tore into the building, knocking down walls and collapsing a roof onto them as they sought safety in a hallway. Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell says the eight students were all in one wing of the school that took "a direct hit." Officials had been monitoring the storm from inside the school as it headed into Alabama. The students were preparing to leave when the sirens started up and the lights went out. As the students scrambled for shelter, a section of roof and a wall collapsed.
Click here to read the Associated Press article on Alabama.com
At Enterprise High school, school buses had been lined up in preparation for school to be dismissed at 1 p.m. when the killer tornado hit. The high school and Hillcrest Elementary School sustained catastrophic damage. Rescue workers labored for hours to rescue the students trapped in the rubble. Some 50 people in Enterprise were said to be hospitalized from the tornado.