Tennessee college struck by tornado a third time

By Richard Cotton

JACKSON, Tenn., Feb 6 (Reuters) - Students and staff at Union University in western Tennessee were picking up the pieces on Wednesday after a twister struck the school for the third time in less than a decade.

The Tuesday night tornado was one of several twisters that wreaked havoc across five U.S. Southern states and were blamed for at least 52 deaths, including 28 in Tennessee.

Will Hayden, a 20-year-old biology student said: "A bunch of us were outside watching the lightning. We've had 80 tornado watches and nothing ever happened."

But when the students heard a "low rumbling, like a freight train," they ran inside and took cover. "There were five of us in the bathroom with a mattress over us."

Several students had to be rescued from wrecked residence halls and 51 were injured, nine seriously, but there were no deaths, university spokesman Mark Kahler said.

The school sustained millions of dollars in damage as the tornado's winds toppled walls, ripped off roofs and tossed vehicles around like toys.

"Just about every building is damaged, with most of the damage to the dormitories. About 80 percent of the residence halls are demolished or in bad shape," Kahler said.

On Nov. 10, 2002, the liberal arts school with Southern Baptist roots was hit by a less-powerful twister that caused $2.5 million in damage. Kahler said, "That was nothing compared to this."

A third tornado passed through a few years before that, he said.

'SCARIEST THING'

Stephen Williams was sitting in his living room when the storm hit. "It blew all the windows out," he said.

After the storm passed, Williams, Hayden and other students helped classmates out of nearby residences that had been struck by cars and other debris hurled by the twister.

Shivering in the morning chill in shorts and a light jacket, Williams said: "This is all I have and the jacket's not even mine. They won't let us go back in and get any of our things."

Most of the 1,100 students who live on campus spent the night in a less-damaged classroom building. On Wednesday, students trickled through a "command center" set up in a fraternity house, registering for alternative housing and calling home. About 1,000 other students live off campus.

"We know the students are safe, and that's the important thing," said the school's dean of students, Kimberly Thornbury. She said the campus would be closed for at least a week.

Groups of students returned to view the wreckage and exchange hugs with classmates, many still visibly shaken, before police shooed them away.

"This is the scariest thing I've ever been in," said Hayden. (Editing by Andrew Stern and Peter Cooney)