The below comes from Overdrive and Truckers News publisher Randall-Reilly’s president and CEO Mike Reilly (pictured), a good man I’ve gotten to know over my years with the magazines. Thankfully, all Tuscaloosa- and other Southeast-based Randall-Reilly employees survived the storm. My thoughts continue to be with, as Mike well puts it, “many in our community and other areas of the Southeast [that] have not been so fortunate.” Reilly’s message follows:
A message to our Randall-Reilly friends:
We cannot thank our associates, friends and customers enough for their love and support in the aftermath of the massive tornado that ravaged Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. We are extremely grateful to report that all 345 Tuscaloosa-based members of our Randall-Reilly family have been accounted for. Although many have varying degrees of property damage, we have suffered no loss of life or serious injury in our immediate Randall-Reilly family. We are, however, saddened in the knowledge that many in our community and other areas of the Southeast have not been so fortunate.
At this difficult time, we are comforted by our faith and the knowledge that the American spirit is resilient and strong. It will be a long road, but with the help of our neighbors and friends from around the country, Tuscaloosa will rebuild. –Mike Reilly, Randall-Reilly chairman, president and CEO