Students were trapped at Union University

ANDREW McMURTRIE/ The Jackson Sun.Medical personell set up a make shift tieage unit following a tornado that ripped through the Union University campus Tuesday in Jackson. 2/05/08

Eight students trapped in dorms at Union University, emergency workers at scene

A storm system passing through Jackson has damaged several buildings at Union University and trapped some students in the university's resident halls, according to a university spokesman.

At least eight students are trapped in Hurt Complex and Watters Complex, which are residence halls at the school, said Tim Ellsworth, who is news director at the university.

Ellsworth said no serious injuries have been reported so far. He said untold damage has been done to cars parked on the campus and that emergency responders are working to free students from debris.


Ellsworth said classes at the university have been cancelled until further notice.

Elswhere in Jackson there are power lines down and the roof has been torn off of the bank at Channing Way and the U.S. 45 Bypass. Check back on jacksonsun.com for more information.
http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080205/NEWS01/80205036

The students and the rest of the people in the way of these monsters, lost everything they owned. Most said it's just stuff. But what they will come away with is the trauma of it happening and seeing everything they found safety in is gone.

Two dorms destroyed, students trapped at Union University
By James Dowd (Contact)
Originally published 08:56 p.m., February 5, 2008
Updated 05:23 a.m., February 6, 2008

At least two dormitories were destroyed and the roof of a classroom building was sheared off at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., following Tuesday’s storms.

As a result, classes have been cancelled for the rest of this week and all of next.

Tim Ellsworth, the school's news director, said 51 students went to the hospital and nine had injuries that were classified as serious. At least eight people were trapped in a damaged dorm until rescuers could dig them out.

Ellsworth said the school dorms have been "reduced to piles of rubble. I know we had students huddled in the bathrooms."

"A couple of buildings have almost completely collapsed and the roof of Jennings Hall is almost completely gone," he said.

More than 1,000 students were estimated to have been on campus at the time the tornado touched down.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/
feb/05/two-dorms-destroyed-students-trapped-union-univers/

The trapped students, much like the people who were trapped in other states, will end up with emotional trauma hitting them. The deepness of the cut will not hit all at the same level. None of it should be dismissed, denied or avoided. They need to be able to seek peace within themselves after what they went through, just as anyone who survives a traumatic event needs to heal. I hope when they return to their families for the time being, they are carefully watched so that as soon as signs appear, problems can be addressed and they can get the help they need. It's stressful enough to be away at college but to go through all of this is beyond the normal stress level.

Tornadoes Kill 50 in 5 Southern States
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ,AP
Posted: 2008-02-06 14:04:20
Filed Under: Nation News
LAFAYETTE, Tenn. (Feb. 6) - Residents in five Southern states tried to salvage what they could Wednesday from homes reduced to piles of debris, a day after the deadliest cluster of tornadoes in nearly a decade tore through the region, snapping trees and crumpling homes. At least 50 people were dead.

......Twenty-six people were killed in Tennessee, 13 killed in Arkansas, seven killed in Kentucky and four killed in Alabama, emergency officials said. Among the victims were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old daughter in Atkins when they stayed behind to calm their horses. The community, one of the hardest hit, is a town of about 3,000 approximately 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.

Ray Story tried to get his 70-year-old brother, Bill Clark, to a hospital after the storms leveled his mobile home in Macon County, about 60 miles northeast of Nashville. Clark died as Story and his wife tried to navigate debris-strewn roads in their pickup truck, they said.

"He never had a chance," Story's wife, Nova, said. "I looked him right in the eye and he died right there in front of me."
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/tornadoes-kill-50-in-5-southern-states/20080205214909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

So many people involved in these states and the rest of the nation needs to help them heal. Not just replace their property and give them temporary shelter, but to give them sanctuary from the pain.