Three months have passed since a tornado took out whole sections of Tuscaloosa. Here are a couple of articles published this week to mark the time.

First, a moving piece by Rick Bragg.

As Southerners, we know that a man with a chainsaw is worth 10 with a clipboard, that there is no hurt in this world, even in the storm of the century, that cannot be comforted with a casserole, and that faith, in the hereafter or in neighbors who help you through the here and now, cannot be knocked down.

Second, an interview with my weather man, James Spann. I don’t know how you feel about your favorite weather man, but Spann has felt like a family member since the blizzard of ’93.

I won’t be able to feel the pain some of my friends have experienced, but I do believe good things will come. In fact, the best thing was how us Southerners reacted immediately to the tragedy. Neighbors helping neighbors, across socio-economic lines. Churches taking care of widows, orphans, and the homeless. After this tornado outbreak, our people knew what to do, and how to do it.

And, I believe it will make us stronger.

One thing is for sure. Some brilliant meteorologists will come from this day. The tornadoes I lived through in the 1970s were responsible for my intense interest in weather and a long, wonderful career. Watch the same thing happen this time.