over30

Western and middle Tennessee have been hit hard by tornadoes and storms this evening. For anyone with a student at Union University, (Jackson, TN) the President of Union, David Dockery, just reported that students (no number given, but earlier I heard 20) have been transported to hospitals, the womens' dorms are destroyed, the mens' dorms were heavily damaged. Eight male students are alive but trapped in one dorm - they've talked to all of them. All students are accounted for, which is good news.

curmudgeon

over30, D said it was nothing special at Rhodes but that Bartlett (very close ) was hit pretty hard. They were already told about Jackson. D has a great friend playing for Tennessee Tech. That's in Jackson, right?

I'll be thinking about all of them.

curmudgeon

Just googled TTech. East of Nashville it looks like. I thought there was another school in Jackson.

midmo

I can't get my son in Nashville on the phone, but that isn't anything remarkable. I'm glad to hear all the Union students are accounted for.

2VU0609

Midmo,
VU students were evacuated to places of safety (Towers basement for D). They've been given the all clear and she's back in her room. She said the RA said something touched down on campus, but that's uncomfirmed.

momof2inca

I was really scared to hear on MSNBC that the Union dorm had fallen on 30 students. I hope they all escape without serious injury.

over30

Lambeth University and Lane College are also in Jackson. No reports of any damage at either. Parts of south Memphis hit hard, a mall and some business heavily damaged. So far Nashville isn't reporting any tornadoes touching down.

2VU0609

I live a few hours from Nashville and our Doppler weather picks up much of western TN. It looks like they were hit much harder than we were. We have had tornado sirens sound here, but nothing really materialized. It has been just too warm here for February - 73 this afternoon. I had night class this evening and several of my students arrived early to try to avoid a mad dash in the rain and grumbling about global warming.

midmo

2VU0609, Thanks for that info in post #5.

midmo

2VU, got son on the phone. He said they were all herded into the basement of their dorm, but all is clear now. He seemed a little mystified that I knew anything about it. I didn't let him in on the secret.

2VU0609

Isn't the internet great! I only knew because I came upstairs when sirens started to get a robe so I would be "decently attired" in more than my jammies if I was blown away. While up here, I noticed instant message from D that sirens were sounding. Because she is working on an internship application that's due tomorrow, she wanted me to review for errors tonight and she sent a text when she was in Towers basement to tell me that it would be awhile before she sent the document.

midmo

^^^Hey, speaking as someone who grew up with tornado sirens, you are not supposed to go looking for your robe when the sirens are sounding!

Good luck to your daughter with the internship application. She probably did not expect a tornado to get in the way of finishing it up.

over30

Alll but 3 of the students have been removed from the dorm debris and rescuers are talking to all 3. Very good news.

Tell your daughter good luck.

MomofWildChild

I'm in Nashville and we're all fine so far.

midmo

Glad to hear that, MOWC.