Tuscaloosa , Alabama ( CNN ) -- It was around by 5 p.m. Wednesday when residents first saw the monster tornado heading toward the heart of this proud Southern university town . Many prayed . Others grabbed video phones . Some fled for their lives . The winds hissed . The destructive force of Mother Nature that day wo n't ever be forgotten by the 93,000 people who call Tuscaloosa home . That day has united them , through horror and hope , tears and prayers . Michael Zutell , a manager at a CVS , rushed a family of three into the pharmacy 's breakroom , where they huddled with employees . Their car had screeched to a halt at the door , the tornado just across the street . Not too far away , Lenora Bolden saw it from her front porch and cuddled with her 5-year-old daughter and husband . Her daughter sang out , `` Jesus ! Jesus ! Jesus ! '' Bolden chimed in with `` Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you . '' Janet Puckett buried her head in clothes in an alcove of her house a few blocks away . `` Oh God , '' she said as her house trembled . Gar Blume had a different reaction . `` Oh s -- - , '' he screamed . Blume was in his law office in a Tuscaloosa neighborhood known as Alberta or Alberta City -- a working-class residential area east of downtown that 's predominantly African-American and Hispanic . Blume would owe his life to five people who pulled him from rubble -- one of whom he said was a known drug dealer . In a one-block radius around Blume 's office , he said , at least 15 people were killed . Sharon Burns had no way of knowing at the time , but Alberta Baptist Church -- the house of worship where three generations of family have attended , the church where her grandfather laid the cornerstone in 1922 -- was about to get pummeled . Just up the road , Alberta Elementary had stood as a beacon of hope for low-income children here . Built in recent years , the school was a state-of-art facility , complete with a computer lab , gym , library and plush rooms . Luckily , it was empty Wednesday afternoon . One of the few things still standing at the school is a doorway . Above it , the sign reads , `` School is cool . '' As bad as the destruction is across Tuscaloosa , Ground Zero lies in Alberta , where homes and anything else in the tornado 's path were demolished for blocks on end . `` I 've never seen devastation like this , '' President Obama said as he toured Alberta during a visit to Tuscaloosa on Friday . Front yard a trash can . Janet Puckett stands outside what 's left of her home on 30th Avenue in Alberta . Its walls crumbled under the force of the storm . Her living room and a front bedroom disappeared . The roof of the house got sucked up , too . `` A war zone , '' she says of the mountains of broken 2-by-4s and other debris all around . See hi-res photos of the devastation . She raised her three boys in that home , lived there for 30 years . She points across the road , three homes up , to where her truck landed in an oak tree . `` It 's buried in a twisted part of the tree , '' she says . Her other vehicle got tossed across the yard , its windows smashed in . The tornado picked up a neighbor 's home and dropped it across the street . The woman inside was killed . Puckett is glad to be alive , she says , `` but I 've lost everything really . '' She laughs , smiles and chuckles as she surveys the damage , her family all around . The only thing intact in her home is the deep freeze , which sits where it always has in the kitchen . `` You have to laugh to keep from crying , I guess . '' When the tornado hit , she simply hung on tight and kept her head buried . Walls shook , dust fell everywhere . `` When I looked up , all I could see is sky , '' she says . `` It was still daylight . You see the pictures on TV of these war zones . That 's what I was thinking of . `` My nerves were shaking all over my body . '' Her youngest son , Tommy , was killed seven years ago at age 23 in a car accident . Her husband has been hospitalized for the last six months with an array of health problems . Now this . `` They say the Lord ca n't put on you more than you can take , '' she says . `` But how much more can I take ? '' Amid the debris , she 's found some photos of her youngest son , `` but not all . '' `` I do n't know where they are , '' she says . `` Under all that mess , I guess . '' She tosses an empty french fry container on the debris heap . Her front yard is now a trash can . The family has planted an American flag out front , a ray of hope that they will rebuild . A few houses up , amid the twisted piles of former homes , someone 's walker stands in a front yard . Resting against it is a young woman 's wedding photo , a wide smile on her face . Roger Davis stands outside a cousin 's home . He raises his hand and points up and down the road . `` This is Ground Zero , '' he says . Many people here are renters . `` Do you think most these people have insurance ? This is just ridiculous . '' `` Just take a walk through , it 's a mess . It 's a mess . '' `` But I 'm hopeful . There is some hope in this , '' he says . `` All I can say is God Bless America . '' 'The woman with the baby is screaming ' The CVS lies in the heart of Tuscaloosa 's commercial district , next to the city 's main mall and the Wood Square Shopping Center , just west of Alberta . CVS manager Michael Zutell herded workers into a windowless breakroom after news of a tornado was confirmed . He and shift supervisor Devin McAnnally then walked to the front of the store to lock the door . They could n't believe their eyes . The tornado was across the road , above a Chipotle restaurant . A 4-door Dodge Stratus sped into their parking lot and stopped right outside the front door . A husband and his wife jumped out , the woman clutching their young baby . Zutell ushered the family into the breakroom . `` I 've always heard the story of the train sound , and that is what it was , '' Zutell says . `` It was just loud as can be . '' About 12 people were hunched in the breakroom . `` You 're just hearing glass breaking , the woman with the baby is screaming . '' Standing outside of what is now a shell of a building , he says , `` I thank God . '' `` Absolutely blessed , '' McAnnally adds . `` It 's mindboggling to think you walked away OK. '' Zutell said . The day after the tornado , the two men were handing out water to strangers . Proof of how lucky they are lies next door inside the shopping center . Not a single wall is left of Big Lots . The Krispy Kreme and Full Moon BBQ are gone too . Cars tossed like toys sit on top of each other . 'We heard a freight train and we just cuddled ' Lenora Bolden walks around to the back of her house where one of Tuscaloosa 's classic druid oaks fell between three homes , only scraping one . Its trunk juts 15 feet into the sky . `` We 're all safe , '' she says . `` That 's why I can tell you God is good . '' She lives at the edge of Alberta City . She 's lived at the modest home for 10 years . `` My husband and I were standing on the porch and we seen the funnel coming across , '' she says . `` We heard a freight train and we just cuddled . '' She was heartened by the community 's resolve . As soon as the storm cleared and the sun shone , neighbors helped neighbors . Strangers pitched in , too . Anything to help . As she talks , about eight members of Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue stroll down the street carrying axes and other chopping equipment . They 've been conducting a street-by-street search of the city . Jim Ray , one of the firefighters , pitched in along the Gulf Coast after Katrina . `` This damage is much more devastating than what we saw in Katrina . '' He keeps walking . There are more homes to search . 'It 's just a building ' `` Let 's just say he 's a self-employed pharmaceutical salesmen , '' the lawyer says . `` A drug dealer . '' `` He gets free legal services for the rest of his life . '' How anyone survived in Blume 's law office is one of those freaks of nature . Nothing remains but a pile of twisted wood , smashed cinder blocks and wrecked bookshelves . `` We 're grateful and fortunate to be alive , '' he says . `` Fifteen bodies were found in a one-block radius of my building . '' He and his wife , Nettie , were inside when the tornado hit . The lights had flickered and he 'd gone into the server room to cut off all computer systems . His wife followed . Then the walls crashed in . He got buried , she got slammed by an 8-foot-tall bookcase . `` Are you alive ? '' Nettie screamed . `` Yes , '' he said . Her legs were pinned . Blume gently tried to make his way out . He heard voices and waved his arms . `` Help ! '' The drug dealer and four other people , he says , `` dug me out and dug my wife out . '' `` If it were n't for them , we would n't have gotten out . '' Across the street , the sun shines through the roof of Alberta Baptist Church , many of its stained-glass windows smashed . Soft notes from a baby grand piano waft through the tattered area , a girl at the keyboard , surrounded by about 10 friends and family . The church has been here for 89 years . It had just gone through a $ 3 million renovation . Inside , the piano -- and faith -- is about the only thing still holding together . Sharon Burns , the granddaughter of the man who founded the church , sheds gentle tears . `` It 's just a building , '' she says softly . `` But with lots of great memories , '' her close friend , Jeanne Silliman , adds .
Area east of downtown Tuscaloosa known as Alberta was Ground Zero for tornado . President Obama toured the area on a visit to the Alabama university town on Friday . Survivors ' stories tell of the horror of the deadly tornado and the tears left in its wake .