that includes one courageous mom in pratt city.fter the storm she climbed over downed stre eed trees and nails sure her newborn son was safe. our renn noeld's wolf talks to her and has the latest on the recovery efforts there. >> reporter: i'm coming to you from pratt city, alabama, where cleanup continues. guys from alabama power have been picking up a lot of lines and power lines in the community. picking them up, sending them off, possibly recycling them. many beyond repair. it's the action you're going to be seeing not just here in this place but in communities around parts of central alabama, trying to clean up after the storm. as far as you can see, this neighborhood in pratt city, you've got wreckage everywhere. houses rip aid part, some of them completely off the foundations. look off in the distance here. every single house has had some kind of damage. nothing left untouched. certainly a tough thing to deal with. especially on a day like today which, of course, happens to be mother's day. speaking of mother's day, just yes

one fema center opening here in pratt city.h. we'll check in with reynolds throughout the morning. >>> a story i want to tell you about out of california. in three minutes, folks. it has a lot of people scratching their heads, a grave, a cemetery out in california where the grave stones have the "n" word on them, but white people are buried there. hey, dad, think i could drive? i'll tell you what -- when we stop to fill it up. ♪ ♪ [ son ] you realize, it's gotta run out sometime. ♪ you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder to help neutralize odors in multiple-cat homes. and our improved formula also helps eliminate dust. so it's easier than ever to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home.

we have mayor william bell of birmingham but bill cosby touring pratt city. i think both of them really taken aback by the damage, specifically in that area. >> what i've seen of trucks and maintenance things coming to clear up, as long as that's happening -- and i think people have learned from katrina this this is reality. and your mayor to make sure so quickly, so fast, this is turning people into believers and we need them to believe that they can help each other. >> while this storm was devastating, it has brought out the best of our city. and i'm grateful to be the mayor of a city that has such wonderful people in it. >> reporter: it's amazing the damage we've seen in places like pratt city, obviously here in tuscaloosa, but many of the other smaller places, not only spots like, say, ohatchee, alabama, but even into georgia, ringgold, damage there. we have a long way to go in terms of our severe weather season. as soon as we get into june, we have the beginning of hurricane season. certainly a possibility of rough weather for months to come, along with

. >> reporter: i'm coming to you from pratte city, alabama.'ll step out of the way so you can see what the guys from alabama power are doing picking up the power lines, the community here, they are picking them up and sending them off to recycle. many beyond repair. this is the reaction in many communities here around central parts of alabama trying to clean up after the storm. as far as you can see, this neighborhood here has wreckage everywhere with houses ripped apart, some completely off the foundation. look off in the distance here, every single house has had damage, nothing left untouched. certainly a tough thing to deal with, especially on a day like today, which, of course, happens to be mother's day. speaking of mother's day, just yesterday in tuscaloosa we were able to meet a very interesting person. she's 20 years old. her name is alicia fairchild celebrating mother's day in a shelter. she is a very interesting story. >> all i could think was, my son, i have to get to my son. they pulled nails out of my feet from where i had to run

another place ravaged by the tornadoes is pratt city just to the northwest of alabama, northwest of birmingham. the mayor of birmingham was actually there yesterday. if you check out this video, you can see a bit of it. mayor william bell was there and he also had a special visitor with him, that's the comedian bill cosby. he is the speaker at miles college and the two were able to walk around and see the damage first hand and, again, they were both mesmerized by what they found. >> what i've seen of trucks and maintenance things coming to clear up, as long as that's happening. and i think people have learned from katrina that this is reality. and your mayor to make sure so quickly, so fast. this is turning people into believers. and we need them to believe. that they can help each other. >> while this storm was devastating, it has brought out the best of our city and i'm grateful to be the mayor of a city that has such wonderful people in it. >> i can tell you that the cleanup has really begun in many places, including pratt city and here in tuscaloosa. you have to remember, again, this is a

dean reynolds reports tonight from pratt city, alabama. >> reporter: they went to church in alabama today, or they tried to. on the remaining foundation of one, in a football field at another. and in a sports arena, that was the temporary home of birmingham's bethel missionary baptist church. >> the bass player would sit right here. >> reporter: on wednesday the actual $7 million house of worship was destroyed in seconds. but its spirit clearly lives on in its members, including deirdre, who surveyed the ruins this afternoon. earlier she was at the keyboard on sunday as she has been for years but was dealing with the emotions that overcame so many members as they contemplated the damage done and the road ahead. >> the keyboard that i play every sunday, it had scars on it. it had scratches. it had knicks. but it still worked. and that is just like our church. we're bruised. we're battered. but we are still all alive. >> reporter: reverend tomorrowie lewis argued that the devastation should be seen as a miraculous new beginning. though they lost homes, no member of this church was killed. >

they had a chance to go see some of the damage in pratt city first hand.t blew them away. >> what i've seen of trucks and maintenance things coming to clear up, as long as that's happening. and i think people have learned from katrina that this is reality. and your mayor to make sure so quickly, so fast this is, this is turning people into believers. and we need them to believe. that they can help each other. >> while this storm was devastating, it has brought out the best of our city and i'm grateful to be the mayor of a city that has such wonderful people in it. >> so, as you can imagine, certainly an amazing thing for them to see and certainly going to take quite a while for people in birmingham to certainly recover. same story in tuscaloosa and many places around the southeast. one of the worst tornado outbreaks in history. certainly the worst in the state of alabama. the latest from tuscaloosa, let's send it back to you in the studio. >> thanks to reynolds wolf for us in tuscaloosa. keep a close eye on the south in recovery. >>> a quarter past the hou

kimberly rankin of our birmingham affiliate has the latest on recovery efforts in nearby pratt city. morning? >> you know, they're still bad. as you look around, it doesn't feel like 26 days have passed since tornadoes cut through alabama. they leveled homes, wiped out cities, and broke hearts. and you know, all of this devastation that is a constant reminder of that night when alabama experienced a living nightmare. >> we all came to the window and it was right on top of us by then. what gotten most was the screeches and screams that came right after the tornado. >> i'm hanging onto the bottom of his t-shirt, and i can feel he's blowing away from me. and i just held on, and tried to reach back and get me, and it stopped. >> reporter: after the dust settled, but before we could ask for help, neighbors were by our side pulling us from the rubble, offering us aid, and a much-needed hug. >> water. you need some water? all right. the town is devastated, it's very sad, and the only thing that we can do is support the citizens, those who lost everything. >> a lot of these people came togeth

city. east pratt. let's take a live look. 70 at 29.nd there's another look at the west side at wilkens avenue. it is starting to pick up. but right now, no current delays this. traffic report is brought to you by bill's carpet, hardwood and laminate 2. you can call them. back over to you. >>> for the first time in recent memory, a ping-pong game makes the highlight reel. check out what happens in the match between two swedish players. one of the players hits an incredible over the back. the ball bounced in for a win. but despite all of that talent, the man who hit that shot is only ranked 421st in the world. >> but he's never won on tv today. >> i should say so. >> see, he turns around? >> boom. >> the table looks small. >> he's just fast. >> sure is. well -- >>> straight ahead on eyewitness news at 4:00. scouts stranded. trapped in the woods for days. we have the dramatic rescue. >>> improve your batting practice. >>> it's gray and chilly. and there could be sprinkles this afternoon. bob's updated forecast is coming up. it's the littl

also secretary napolitano came on sunday to the pratt city area in birmingham, along with several other cabinet members. they also, i think, got a real appreciation for the severity of the damage and reassured alabamans that help would be on the way in an appropriate fashion. it certainly will take for a number of our communities an integrated, coordinated state, local, federal response to get these communities back on track. that's why we have a federal emergency management agency. that's why we have moneys in the budget for these kind of things, although this one is a particularly damaging event, i have to say. as a ranking member on the budget committee, i'm aware that we have to be careful about how we spend money. we certainly don't have any money, not a dime, to waste. and i've got to tell you every time i've been there or i've talked to people on the ground, they tell me how impressed they are with the volunteers that are arriving from all over the country bringing food and water and helping people who are working, bringing chain saws to help clear roads and highways and driveway

pratt reports. >> reporter: it's wednesday afternoon at this mall in garden city, new york, and you could play catch in the parking lot. a slow shopping center is hardly conclusive evidence of a weak economy, but some experts say it's no surprise given other signs of lackluster activity. the housing market remains in the cellar. sales are down at the nation's go-to store. and, job growth is still far too slow to put millions of americans back to work. economist ed yardeni also points to the recent increase in weekly jobless claims and weakness in the auto sector because of parts shortages in japan. >> the auto industry actually saw a very sharp drop in production in april and, as a result of that, they're not hiring and they're holding back 'til they can get the parts. so, i think, when you add it all up, we're probably looking at a soft patch lasting through the end of the summer. >> reporter: and, don't forget those higher prices at the pump. some say they've upset our financial state of mind. >> we all drive down the road and we see that price all the time, and so it gives an immediate sense of h

suzanne pratt looks at the relationship between crude oil and gasoline prices. >> reporter: at this new york city gas station today, the price of unleaded is still well over $4 a gallon. that's despite the fact that the price of crude oil tumbled last week, part of a global sell-off in commodities. in fact, during the first week of may crude dropped 15%, yet the national average for a gallon of unleaded gas actually rose 2%. in the energy markets, what goes up doesn't seem come down with the same enthusiasm. call it the quick rise, slow fall principle. consumers think it's price gouging. paul christopher of wells fargo says consumers are part of the problem of sticky gas prices. that's because they're reluctant to shop for cheaper fuel outside of their neighborhood. >> if you're driving to work and there's a gasoline station-- maybe, say, it's on the right- hand side of the road. you might be more apt to stop at that gas station than maybe across the street, which would force you to make a left-hand turn into it. so, there's a certain amount of what economists call an oligopoly, or that is to say