by Penny Anderson
Practice Management Editor
Thursday, April 28, 2011 — The Alabama Dental Association staff is on the phones this morning, trying to reach dentists in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville to try to assess the damages to their practices and the dentists and staff members themselves. Deadly tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged the South early today, with the death toll now standing at 210 people in five states.
Coella Judkins, an administrative assistant with ALDA, told me at 11 a.m. this morning that they had spoken to some 20 dentists this far, and the majority have damage to their practices and some have major damage. Judkins said dentists who can are calling in to report the damage to their practices while ALDA staff continues to try to contact other dentists in these areas.
"The problem is that Tuscaloosa and Birmingham have no power and Huntsville has no phone service, so we are having a difficult time getting through to anyone in these areas," Judkins said. "We will continue to try and contact more dentists and assess damages, and we also encourage dentists who have sustained damaged to their practices and have access to phone service or e-mail to contact us."
Contact the Alabama Dental Association by phone at (334) 265-1684 or go to the website at ALDAonline.org.
