Damage from the killer tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa, Ala., last week was captured in images taken by Covington native Mary Wright, a rising junior at the University of Alabama.

She was safe when the storm struck, working at her employer, an insurance company in a nearby town.

"We could see the tornado moving over Tuscaloosa from the front porch of our office," she wrote in an email. "The size of the tornado was unbelievable and one of the most surreal things I have ever seen. The atmosphere was extremely eerie, because the air was completely still and everything was calm."

Wright is a finance and economics major with a focus in international studies, She is a 2009 graduate of Alcovy High School and the daughter of Mark and Melissa Simmons.