Union University Hit Hard by Tornado

[DadofTwins]

Union is home to tvgameshows.net webmaster Steve Beverley.

Both dorms and most of the academic buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. Over 1200 resident students are displaced. The school is closed until at least February 13 (and likely longer).

Fortunately, there were no fatalities and no major injuries.

Union is in Jackson, Tennessee, about 120 miles west of Nashville.

Thoughts and prayers to all affected.

[hermillion]

Our local news showed film of the damages and it was pretty dramatic. Evidently ALL of the dorms were destroyed or heavily damaged, and most of the academic buildings were hit. The cleanup began today, but it will be a while before they are ready to hold classes.

Steve wrote about the aftermath on the website, and if you'd like to send messages of support you can click the link there, or send on your own to steve@tvgameshow.net

[ulysses5019]

I emailed Steve this morning once I saw the coverage on CNN. He just sent me a reply to say that he and his family are ok. They live out in the country and spent the majority of last night in their neighbor's basement. As hermillion posted, it was a miracle that no one died at the college.

[earendel]

I found out last night that the fiancee of a son of a church member is a student at Union and the dorm she was in was the one that was demolished. She and her roommate lost everything, but they are OK.

[Kazoo65]

This is something I can personally relate to. Having gone through a similar experience when I was in 8th grade, I can empathize with the folks in Jackson and what the students are going through right now.

Seeing the pictures in the paper and the news footage on TV is one thing, but actually going to where the storm hit and seeing the damage is something else altogether. I remember doing exactly that after the 8th grade graduation Mass. I was showing my relatives where my classroom USED to be. It was weird, to say the least.

The timing of our storm was also strangely lucky. It hit after classes had been dismissed for the day, so there were no kids or teachers in the building. Talk about an eerie experience.

[Robyn]

Interestingly enough, our son Greg, who graduated in the fall from Rochester Institute of Technology as a mechanical engineer took a job with Black and Decker in Jackson. We moved him down in December, he started on the job last month, and while we were with him, we heard about tornadoes from many locals and plotted out what Greg should do if one occurred. He thought we were being overly cautious with him.

He had been considering an apartment complex basically across the street from Union, but his sister helped him find another place about 1/2 mile away on craigslist. The twister started about 1/4 mile behind his house and moved due east to the college. There was also a brand new firehouse further east that was leveled and he's heard horror stories from many of his co-workers.
Needless to say, our son now has a healthy respect for tornadoes!