February 5, 2008 at 7:02 p.m. I Winds estimated at 200 - 240 MPH I 86 injuries I 51 injured victims taken to the hospital I 9 injured victims admitted I No fatalities I 31 campus buildings damaged I 19 campus buildings with major damage

6 Special Edition 2008 www.uu.edu 7 UNIONITE UNIONITE ebruary 5 had been a day in tracked the storm live. It seemed to be moving and the second floor of Hammons. region, the nation and even the world in of their students, often trekking through which common conversation in up Interstate 40 directly to Jackson. Prior to 7 Worst of all, 13 students were trapped mighty, life-changing ways. mounds of debris and glass shards with Jackson had included the mention p.m., civil defense sirens sounded across beneath rubble in the Hurt and Watters This special edition of the Unionite will cold winds blowing in their faces. of severe weather. Unseasonable Madison County. complexes. By the time the evening ended, tell only a small part of this complex and Best of all, read the stories of the survivors, Ftemperatures in the mid-70s, combined with At 7:02 p.m., an EF-4 tornado crossed 51 students were taken to hospitals, and remarkable story. It is a story of emergency, who are quiet about their losses but outspoken the impending passage of a cold front, pro- Pleasant Plains Road, striking a glancing nine were admitted. recovery and rebuilding. It is a testimony in their thanksgiving for God’s providence: jected the possibility of dangerous conditions. blow to White Hall and then hitting But when the sun rose the next morn- of hope and blessing. It is an opportunity for specifically, for the soft drink machine that fell Classes at local secondary schools, both Jennings Hall before it focused destructive ing, everyone who had been alive on cam- the world to see what makes Union University just the right way to create a space for them or public and private, had been canceled that power on the Hurt and Watters residential pus at sunset was still breathing. One of a unique place in the world of higher education. the door that wedged against a falling wall and day. At Union University, schedules were complexes and Hammons Hall. the most powerful forces in nature had Many of the pictures and accounts that kept the collapsing ceiling from crushing them. intact, but there was also a careful watch President David S. Dockery saw the fun- taken direct aim at the only area of campus appear on these pages were captured by stu- Read the story of February 5 and the on weather reports and radar scans. nel cross U.S. 45 Bypass from his office, with high concentrations of potential dent journalists, who at a difficult and terri- days of recovery and rebuilding that follow Just after 6 p.m., word came that the not yet knowing the extent of the damage victims—and not one single life was lost. fying moment left behind the comforts of as some of the most poignant moments in Memphis area had been hit with a system pack- it had caused on campus: Seventy percent Suddenly, the ugly remnants of those home and family to chronicle this amazing the 185-year history of Union University. ing hail, damaging winds and imbedded torna- of the residential housing destroyed or buildings turned beautiful to many who had story. You’ll also read about faculty mem- Join the campus community in praising does. By 6:30, WBBJ-TV in Jackson had inter- damaged beyond repair; hundreds of vehi- feared the worst just hours earlier. Immed- bers who worked for days to retrieve every God not only for what He has done, but rupted regular programming as two forecasters cles totaled; serious damage to Jennings iately, God’s providence was revealed to the possible possession in the wrecked rooms what He will do here in the months to come.

8 Special Edition 2008 www.uu.edu 9 UNIONITE UNIONITE nder 25 feet of rubble, Kevin “It felt like I was underground and had no Furniss had reason to think he hope and no future. I was 25 feet deep, and the was about to die. moment he touched my hand it was life.” He no longer had feeling in tried desperately to get someone – anyone – Though hurting, Kevin gladly granted Uhis legs. He questioned whether he’d ever be to hear their cries for help. numerous interviews from his hospital able to play tennis again. He feared for the Shortly thereafter, Jordan Thompson, one room. He spoke to FOX News’ Greta Van safety of his friends who were also buried of Kevin’s friends, managed to free himself Susteren, to the CBS Nightly News with just a few feet away. from the debris and simply sat in a cave-like Katie Couric, to Memphis’ Commercial Sometimes he even hoped that death opening in the darkness. He began talking Appeal and to The Jackson Sun, among oth- would come swiftly. to Kevin and his friends, encouraging them ers. He took every opportunity to talk to “I actually told myself that if they weren’t in their distress. the world about the Lord. coming quick, I wanted my lungs to lock “We started praying and reciting the “The reason I kept doing interviews was up,” Furniss said. Scripture,” Furniss said. “I sang a little bit. because those other guys couldn’t, and I But God had other plans for the junior Jordan joined in.” wanted the gospel out,” he said. from Bartlett, Tenn. Furniss finally began to Kevin could feel the emergency workers He was discouraged at times when pro- punch his way out through the sheet rock getting closer with their equipment. It didn’t ducers axed the most potent statements above him, and managed to stick his hand bring the hope that Kevin had expected. about his faith. The CBS story in particular out into the cold night air. “The sledge hammer and the chainsaw had been stripped of most faith references. “A firefighter actually grabbed it,” Furniss were the worst, because you could feel the But Kevin quickly points out there were five said. “It was hope, and it was life. It really sledge hammer jamming everything tighter. people on the CBS crew in his room who did feel like he gave me life just by touching And you could hear the chainsaw,” Furniss heard what he had to say. my hand.” said. “The scariest thing was not the torna- Upon his discharge from the hospital six For Furniss, the feeling brought back do. It wasn’t being trapped and thinking I days after admission, Furniss and his family memories of another time in his life when was going to suffocate. It wasn’t being drove straight to the Union campus. Kevin he needed to be rescued. afraid I was going to have broken bones. wanted to see where he had been trapped. “It felt a lot like when I prayed to receive The scariest thing was that the chainsaw was At first, when he approached the pile of Christ,” he recalled. “He pulled me out of a going to go into my back.” rubble that had enveloped him, a policeman lot of sin. As deep and hopeless as I was, But the rescue workers knew what they reprimanded him. Christ pulled me out. In the same way, it were doing. Slowly and skillfully, they final- “Hey, you’re too close. Get away from felt that way when the firefighter grabbed ly removed enough of the debris – in part that,” the man said. my hand and pulled me out.” guided by Kevin’s verbal instructions -- to But then someone explained to the officer The most frightening night of Furniss’ allow Kevin to punch his hand out. who Kevin was, and the man’s demeanor life began in the Watters commons, where “When I reached my hand out and start- changed. He helped Kevin walk onto the top Kevin was playing ping pong with friends. ed waving it around, I was hoping for some- of the pile, where days before Kevin and his He raced into the men’s bathroom in the one to touch it, or feel water on it, or friends had been buried alive. commons – the designated shelter area in “I sat up there with my dad,” Kevin said. times of severe weather. Three of his friends “We cried a little bit, and we prayed.” were hunkered down in that bathroom, Seeing the extent of the devastation for with another three friends taking shelter in the first time caused Kevin to wonder at the women’s room. God’s mercy in sparing him, and in sparing “I don’t remember anything from there everyone else on campus. until it was on top of us,” Furniss recalled. “I don’t know why no one was killed, “I don’t remember who was behind me or much less myself,” he said. “I don’t know how we got in the door or anything like why hundreds of girls weren’t killed.” that. It all happened and then everything The only thing he could think was that was on top of us.” God had a reason for him to be alive – that By Tim Ellsworth By “everything,” Furniss means the entire God somehow would glorify Himself commons building, which had collapsed through the events of Feb. 5. and trapped him and his friends under tons Kevin didn’t have to wait long to see what of rubble. They didn’t know how deeply somthing that wasn’t underground,” Furniss he considers to be at least a part of God’s pur- buried they were, so their first instinct was said. “And then out of nowhere the guy – I poses in allowing the tornado to happen. to push up in an attempt to escape. Furniss couldn’t see, I didn’t know who he was, but Only a few days after the tragedy, one of his and his friends soon discovered the futility it was another life, and he squeezed my close friends, Chris Lean, became a Christian. of those efforts. hand and told me that they were there. He “He realized he didn’t have what we had, and The first hour passed with much scream- actually tried to let it go, probably to help he is now a believer,” Kevin said. “To hear that ing, much chaos and much panic. They get me out, and I wouldn’t let him let go. news, it really made it all worth it.”

www.uu.edu 11 UNIONITE (Julie Boyer, a 2001 Union graduate, lives of me, and her hip was on my left lung. across the street from campus. Her second-floor The only sounds in the tub for the first apartment was not the place to ride out a tor- few seconds were me trying to breathe. My nado warning, so she bypassed shelter on the the floor on one side and tilted us at a slight first thoughts were similar to others’, “The first floor of her building and decided to visit angle. The wind was pushing from both the dorms are destroyed. All the students are some close friends (including Heather Martin) side and behind. I could feel the rotation. either dead or buried like we are, and they in the Jelks residence hall on Union’s campus. Heather told me later the wind was picking will never find us in time. Even if I can keep Julie became trapped in the rubble following her legs up, and she felt like it was trying to breathing, my air pocket is so small, I will the tornado. suck her out of the tub. She said I was still suffocate before they get us out. This is the The following are excerpts of Julie’s first- gripping her hand. She held on to me and end of my life. I have no regrets.” I was calm person account of her ordeal, taken with her to the side of the tub to keep from flying and accepting of this, but I didn’t stop fight- permission from a longer email she wrote to out. I don’t remember this, only that I was ing for air. I didn’t give up. I was realistic. friends and loved ones soon after the experi- thinking, “I can’t believe it’s actually hitting us!” It became harder and harder for me to ence. Note that Heather Martin’s first-person We heard crackling, and the second floor breathe, and the weight of the building account appears on the page 14.) suddenly dropped on top of us. We were increased more and more. My arms and pressed down further and further into the legs started to go numb. I wiggled my fin- ellie Roe, Suzanne Short, and tub as the weight of the debris settled on us. gers and toes to make sure one last time that Heather Martin were all home. It felt like the outside concrete wall fell on I didn’t have a spinal cord injury. At this The TV was on, and the girls us after the second floor dropped. I thought same moment, Heather realized I couldn’t were just hanging out. About the pressure from above was going to kill us. breathe. She had heard me before but didn’t Kfive minutes after I walked in, the sirens I don’t know quite how to explain my know it was I. sounded. Suzanne is an RA (resident position in the tub. My body will never She started talking me through the situation, assistant), so she grabbed her phone again be able to twist that way. My mouth telling me to breathe, trying to shift her weight and keys, and headed out to clear the top and chin were crushed against the right side to help. It only made it worse. I started to pray floor of Jelks, the building for in my mind, “Jesus, I need you… which she was responsible. There (Rescue crews removed debris were three girls who came down- carefully by hand until they stairs to join us. reached the trapped women. Julie About two minutes before the was in-and-out of consciousness, tornado hit, Suzanne opened our and Heather says Julie’s breathing door and yelled, “Get in the tub, stopped several times. Shifting in NOW!” We were the last room she the wreckage created new pressure told before she sprinted for Hurt points on her body. Finally, the Commons to check back in. She crews uncovered her position.) almost didn’t make it. Without We were free. The firemen her, though, we would all probably pulled me out and passed me from be dead. person to person. The last guy to The next moments are still a whom I was passed was instructed bit of a blur. I jumped into the tub to hold me only on my left side, on the end away from the faucet, since I was in so much pain on the and grabbed Heather’s hand to right. He held me so gently. I help her in. As I was sinking knew I was safe, and his body heat down, Heather was trying to find started to warm me up. It had space to fit. Kellie was almost in. been stifling under the building, After that, the lights went out, but the fresh air was freezing. I there was a pop (we think it was thought, “This is what the arms of the bathroom door flying open), God must feel like: safe, secure, and the bathroom wall blew into strong, and warm.” They tried to sit and over us. Not only did the storm sound of my chest all the way under my breast. me down, then lay me down, but I couldn’t like a train (or a thousand of them – as My jaw was clenched. My neck was curled breathe in either position. So, I stood. Heather said), but it truly seemed as if a up and exposed kind of like a swan when it I know my days are numbered, but I will train had hit the bathroom wall. The noise ducks its head. There was pressure from the not leave this earth until Jesus says it is time. I was deafening. The power of the storm was back of the tub on my right side. My right will proclaim His glory, His grace, and His absolutely indescribable. lung was so compressed that no air was able strength until then. I had peace about my Dirt and debris was pelting us, and we to get in or out. At the time, I thought I death that night, and I have peace about my were screaming as the bathtub ripped from had a collapsed lung. Heather was on top life right now.

12 Special Edition 2008 UNIONITE (Heather Martin, a junior nursing major, and spoke through her directly to me in lived in Jelks prior to the tornado. She became that moment. It was at that point that I had trapped in the debris following the tornado an overwhelming sense of peace. with Julie Boyer, who also supplied the Unionite we are. This is where I am going to die. No The tornado struck at 7:02 - the firemen with a first-person account. The following one will ever find us. We will be here for arrived around 7:15. We were told later that excerpts are from an email that was forwarded days and we won’t last that long.” We all when they arrived, the chief got out and was to scores of people around the world.) accounted for each other and tried to calm overwhelmed with the destruction. He sent each other down. off the team in twos to listen for voices. bout two minutes before the I began to think about what my death Students began to crawl out of their bath tornado hit, (roommate Suzanne would be like. I only had a small pocket of tubs. He heard muffled sounds near the pile Short) ran in and said “Get in air and my whole body was compressed. I of debris that used to be my dorm room. the tub, now!” (that would be realized I was going to pass out, and then I Rubble on top of us had to be removed by hand. theA last time I would see her and know that would be with Jesus. To some of you, that When the rescuers got close to us, it got she was alive until 11:30 or so later that may sound very morbid, but it actually really scary. Julie’s breathing was terrible at night). A mentor of mine from church, Julie allowed me to move on and not panic in this point and she was in and out of con- Boyer, decided to come over and ride out fear about the process of my death. sciousness. As the rescuers neared our tub, it the storm with us. We headed to the bath- I began to pray out loud - telling Julie to was terrifying because the rubble and debris room -- the three girls from upstairs got breathe, not to talk, just to breathe - I was would shift and the pressure would increase. into the tub. positioned on top of her in such a way that The firemen were telling us not to scream Our ears started popping. At that point, if I moved, she either couldn't breathe or it and panic, because they thought we were in (roommate Kellie Roe) was almost into the caused her excruciating pain. pain each time we did. At this point, I tub and Julie turned to me and said, “We could see one of the fireman’s faces. I have to get in, NOW!” We shut the door. screamed out, “I am not panicking. You Julie jumped in. She was holding my hand. have to listen to me. There is someone stuck The lights went off. Hail was pounding on under me and if I move she can’t breathe. our building, and I was almost completely Her neck is exposed, so you can’t slide the in (the tub) when the tornado hit. debris. You have to lift it.” Then, they lifted I still have not come up with adequate off the main piece, and for the first time in words to describe the tornado. I’ll do my 45 minutes, we could breathe in fresh air! best. Everyone asks, “Did it sound like a They got the other girls out, with just train?” It sounded like a thousand trains. Julie and I left. They tried to get me next, The noise was incredible. It was a roar. but my legs were still pinned. So, they got Julie Julie was still holding me at this point out. Then, a fireman came and held me. He and I felt my legs being pulled up by the held my torso and my head. He kept telling force. And then, everything collapsed. There me, “We’re gonna get you out of here.” was a tremendous amount of pressure and it I noticed there was a 2x4 right next to my Heather Martin and other rescued just kept pressing us and pressing us. Some right knee, between the edge of the tub and students went to the Jackson Fire of us were screaming - it was pushing the Department to thank the workers. the mass of debris. That 2x4 had kept just breath out of me, so I couldn't scream. enough of the pressure off of my legs so that All of what I have just described occurred I didn’t completely lose blood flow to my in about five or six seconds. As things were lower extremities. It saved my legs. falling and the wind was swirling around us, I realize now, Christ was guiding my As you have read my story, you’ve read a I remember thinking, “This is NOT hap- thoughts from the very beginning – after lot about God. It may sound a bit odd if pening to me.” coming to grips with the fact that this would you don’t know Him personally. But here's As quickly as it came, it left. And then most likely be the night of my death, I was the truth: I cannot explain ANY of the there was an eerie silence and darkness. I able to move on and focus on simply breathing. events of Tuesday without acknowledging couldn’t see anyone in the tub with me. It I continued to pray aloud, and then at that God was there - He sustained and cov- was so hard to breathe. There was a wall one point I had to tell Julie that I was out of ered us all with His protection. I should not pressing down across my back, and my legs breath and couldn't pray out loud anymore, be alive today -- but I am because He still hadn’t made it into the tub. One of the girls but that I was still praying in my heart and has plans for my life here on earth. He is was able to call 911. She had her cell phone mind. Please do not see this as my being good. If you don’t know Him, you need to. and thankfully could move enough to make “strong” or “brave” or “courageous” - this He loves you. He wants a relationship with the call. We found out later we were the was the power of Christ in me. you. I pray that through my story you have first call from Union. At one point, Kellie very calmly said, caught a glimpse of who He is - His love – My initial thoughts were: “Every student “Heather, it’s going to be okay.” Kellie now His sovereignty - His strength - and His on this campus is either dead or trapped like has no recollection of this. God used her grace - and ultimately, His salvation.

www.uu.edu 15 UNIONITE asmine Huang is a 19- doing it out of pity or because year-old senior engineer- they would want something in ing major from Heifei, return down the road. But J China. She was raised an atheist, but became a Jasmine told her that was not the case – that people Christian during four years as an exchange student were helping only because they wanted to spread the and college student in Jackson. love of Christ. Such a response made an impact upon Jasmine is praying that the fallout from the Feb. 5 her parents. tornado will cause her parents and other family mem- “I think they are getting to see how Christians act bers to be more receptive to the gospel. Like everyone because of Christ,” Huang said. “So, I think that this else on campus that night, Huang has her own is definitely an eye opener for them.” “Where were you?” story. Prior to the tornado, Jasmine was frustrated with She was crammed in the bathroom with 14 – yes, what she called a “gap of communication” with her 14 – other girls. They heard the walls shaking and the parents. They were on different wavelengths when it glass breaking, but they didn’t realize the storm’s severity came to priorities and purposes in their lives. But until they saw a guy coming in with blood on his face. then she told them about the tornado, about how she “That’s when we got nervous and smelled gas,” could have died, and about how her life was spared. Jasmine said. “We sang hymns and prayed. I was And the previous barriers she had been experiencing smiling the whole time. I was scared in my heart, but melted away, as she sensed anew her parents’ concern it was just really, really encouraging to me – just for her wellbeing. shocking – to see how peaceful and calm everyone “That brings warmth to my heart because we are was. I can see they were scared, but they definitely still connected,” Jasmine said. were not terrified. I can see that hope and peace in It also brought her a renewed sense of urgency in people, and that really impressed me.” communicating the gospel to the two people she loves What also impressed Huang was the reaction she the most. She relayed to them the accounts of how saw from so many different people after the tornado – people responded to the tornado. She told them students, faculty, staff, community volunteers – all about the peace and comfort that God had provided working together selflessly in a united effort to help her during a time of disaster and calamity. She told those in need. She told her parents about the way her mom how important it is to have a God upon everyone pulled together in a time of crisis, unified whom to depend in such times. because of their shared bond in Christ. “I think that showed her more of what I really “When I was talking with them about the help I believe, and showed her more that Christianity is not got from the community and just what everyone did just an activity or interest, but really what my life for me, they just did not understand,” Jasmine said. depends on,” Jasmine said. Her mom, especially, thought maybe people were “It’s who I am.”

16 Special Edition 2008 UNIONITE here had been talk survival inside a bathtub in of bad weather in Wingo. Jackson all day, but “Cheryl said that the wall on the evening of Feb. 5, sophomores Rachel fell completely on her,” remembers Rachel. DanielT and Laura Coggin weren’t too concerned. “Somehow she got out of the rubble. She was able to “In the past year, we’ve had quite a few different get herself out.” tornado warnings go off and nothing happened,” “She said, ‘Rachel, I thought I was going to die. I Rachel said. “So I honestly wasn’t that worried about didn’t expect to live.’” it and I don’t think a lot of us were.” Rachel and Laura are especially struck by the fact After eating with some friends at a nearby restau- that Cheryl began trying to help other victims once rant, the two faced what seemed like a routine deci- she was free, not thinking about her own injuries. sion: go back to their Wingo rooms in Hurt “She went to help one of the girls that was in there Complex, or attend a missions class at Englewood and picked her up and everything,” Rachel said. “But Baptist Church. Laura was leaning in the direction of once she picked her up, she realized (the extent of her going back to her second-floor room and taking a own injuries) and she was like ‘I think I broke my nap, but she decided to go to Englewood instead. ribs, I can’t breathe’ and she just laid down.” Says Laura: “It was a totally last-minute decision Cheryl Propst remained in Jackson-Madison not to be (in Wingo).” County General Hospital for several days with multi- After arriving at the church, they heard tornado ple injuries. Her roommates are likely to remember sirens. Calls were made to their roommates to be cer- that initial hospital visit with Cheryl for a long time. tain they were aware of the warning. “She was awake and everything when we were

But shortly after 7 p.m., both girls went from mak- there,” remembers Rachel. “She was so sweet, such an ing phone calls to answering them. amazing godly girl with such a sweet spirit and every- “We started getting calls from family and friends to thing and holding her hand and talking to her, it was see if we were okay,” Rachel said. “And they were say- so amazing just to see her alive.” ing ‘we just watched the news, Union just got hit’ and Equally amazing to Rachel and Laura is the fact it was just a nightmare. that they were spared the dangers of collapsing Wingo “Moment after moment, the news just kept on get- Hall by a friendly invitation and a last-minute decision. ting worse and worse.” “I just praise the Lord that I have roommates that Eventually, they heard the news that Union stu- got me to go to a class about missions,” Laura said. dents were trapped in the rubble, some had been res- Adds Rachel: “Even though we’ve lost everything cued and many were headed to the hospital. One of material-wise, it just taught us what’s important is those who suffered serious injuries was their room- that we have Christ and we have each other. And mate Cheryl Propst, the daughter of Kenyan missionaries. we’re just so thankful. Laura Coggin holds the remains Hours later, they went to the hospital to find “Looking around this campus, there is no way any- of her bedroom door Cheryl, and began hearing the harrowing tale of her one should have survived.”

www.uu.edu 19 UNIONITE ebecca Cobo lost sion. After that I didn’t really her wedding band know what happened.” and her wedding Cobo said it would have ring during the tornado. The ring is a been understandable if the uninjured students had Rfamily heirloom that is more than 100 years old. run away in confusion and fear. He says it amazes “I actually got the wedding band,” says her hus- him that they started searching for members of his band Mario, who served as a residence director in the family and other student survivors. Watters complex and holds the same position at The “We were just thinking ‘how many people died Jett, Union’s new residence hall in the former Old here?’ Then they started the search.” English Inn. Rescue crews were asking Cobo to identify rooms “I found it and I was so happy, I knew she’d be and buildings where students might be trapped. happy,” Cobo said. “Then one of the soccer players “I looked and saw the circle, and could see part of found the wedding ring.” the building, so I said ‘it’s somewhere around here.’ Mario, Rebecca and their two young children lost a They started excavating. After a little while they could lot of possessions in the Watters wreckage. Others, such hear voices.” as photo albums and those rings, were recovered because Cobo slept very little that night. Days later, when students pitched in to find them among the debris. he did get sleep, he’d awaken with a familiar feeling of Only a few nights earlier, on the evening of Feb. 5, uncertainty. Mario had helped pull some of those very students “I relive it all the time. The first couple of nights, out of the wreckage. In fact, his actions before the I’d be dreaming, then I’d wake up and think ‘did that tornado hit probably saved dozens of lives. really happen?’” “They are 18 and 20 year olds, and they always A native of Ecuador, Mario came to Union think, ‘you are immortal,’ nothing is going to happen University in 1997 on a tennis scholarship. He says to you,” said Cobo. “We had a very well-prepared and his relationship with God changed as a result of his

trained staff, and everyone knew what to do.” time at the university as a student. Some of the students experienced curiosity about “I just noticed that everybody around here was dif- the storm rather than fear, failing to realize how seri- ferent. They reached out and showed me Christ ous the situation had become until it was almost too through their lives, not just how they talked. I just late to take cover. fell in love with the people here. “ “I have a security radio, and the security people He also fell in love with Rebecca, whom he met at were yelling, ‘This is not a joke! Tell everyone to get Union. The two were married and lived for a short time in, it’s coming, it’s going to hit.’” in Indiana. When an offer came for Mario work as a The normally easy-going Cobo had to take on a resident director at Union, the decision to accept it and different persona in those final seconds. move his family back to Jackson was a fairly easy one. “I had some of my (resident assistants) trying to “I just love Union. It’s like a family.” push these students inside,” Cobo said. “We actually And like that priceless wedding ring found in the had to get pretty firm to get some of these people in. debris, Mario sees a valuable recovery underway as And I think God actually helped us to get people in students finish the spring semester. right on time. “After something like this, you see again how people “Before I knew, it just hit and it was like a big explo- were just truly like a family.”

20 Special Edition 2008 UNIONITE hey came from Debbie Kaspar has similar opposite directions feelings of thankfulness. Her to find their sons family watched as rescue crews on the evening of Feb. 5. worked quickly to free Jason, working around a sec- TDebbie Kaspar drove through heavy rain and ond major storm threat a few hours after the tornado around tornado damage between her Lakeland home struck campus. and Jackson. Mark and Annie Wilson talked their way “We watched them with the backhoe lift up the through roadblocks between Chattanooga and Jackson. heavy cement pieces, we watched the chainsaws come Both families arrived to find difficult circumstances. out,” said Debbie Kaspar. “We heard about the boys being trapped in a building,” “And then we watched a gentleman with a pick- said Debbie Kaspar, mother of freshman transfer axe, and he just feverishly slammed it down, and at Jason Kaspar. “Of course we envisioned a building that point we thought maybe that Jason had lost with debris up against a door and they’d move the consciousness and they were desperately trying to get debris and our children would walk out.” to him. We just kept praying and the people around But Kaspar says she had no idea her son was in any us just kept calling out to the Lord.” trouble. Although she had not been able to complete When rescue crews received word that a second a cell phone call, heavy calling prevented a lot of con- storm was about to hit Jackson, they refused to run nections that night. She arrived on campus with the for cover. The relentless effort paid off. Jason was thought of taking him home. But after entering the freed from the rubble that imprisoned him for more campus, she was met by a family friend and escorted than four hours. There were serious injuries, but to a spot about 50 feet from where rescue crews were miraculously, no broken bones, no head trauma and working in the Watters complex wreckage. no internal injuries. “It was at that point that they told us there’s still “At midnight they were finally able to get him out one student who’s trapped in there, and we found out and they said ‘we’re going to be making a mad dash that one student was ours.” to the ambulance and take him to the hospital,’” said The Wilson’s son David, a freshman soccer player, Debbie Kaspar. “We were maybe six feet away and we was among the most seriously injured Union students. just said ‘Jason, we love you’ and he said ‘Mom’ and He too was trapped, and his legs were crushed under raised a hand and waved.” the debris. A long road of rehabilitation awaits. When Mark Wilson visited campus the next day, But his life was spared, and David’s parents say he he had Jason and David on his mind, along wih five wants to share his thankfulness. other young men who were trapped. While still in intensive care, David asked his mother “I stood outside the building (where David had to find him a wheelchair. been trapped) and I just thought there is no way one “He said ‘I gotta go to (my old high school) and go person could live under that,” he said. to chapel,’” said Annie Wilson. “I’ve got to tell them “And yet, there are seven boys that God said ‘you’re what happened. I’ve got to share what God has done.’” mine, and I’m not going to let you go.’”

Mark and Annie Wilson talked their way through police road blocks to get to Jackson

Debbie Kaspar arrived at Union to find her son was trapped in storm debris

www.uu.edu 23 UNIONITE is informal dinner at a local Instinctively, Dockery called for emer- unfold before his eyes, but he also saw imberly Thornbury wasn’t thrilled different. This was something serious.” management software, and the students’ restaurant with two Union gency help. He was told it was already on inspiring feats of compassion. with the report from her husband This “something serious” was the rallying emergency contact cards were in the com- deans had been cut short by a the way. The debris was so deep and so “Courageously, many Union students Greg prior to the Feb. 5 tornado. cry for Kimberly, a master of preparation, mons buildings under tons of rubble. tornado threat, so President treacherous that it took skilled rescue crews gathered around, began talking to trapped She was at home with their who quickly made her way to campus to do So she quickly drafted students to help HDavid S. Dockery went back to his office on nearly five hours to free all the trapped students. students, making sure they were okay, stay- Ktwo daughters. Tornado warnings abound- what she does best – caring for the students of her send messages through Facebook and the southeastern part of the Jackson campus. Dockery watched the nightmarish scenario ing in touch with them.” ed. Sirens blared ominously. Greg called to Union University in a selfless, sacrificing way. locate phone numbers for all the parents of Sirens began to blare. Within a few minutes, It wasn’t the first time in his tenure that update her on his whereabouts. “This is her calling,” Greg said. “She is residential students. All the while, the rain he would become one of the very few people to tornado destruction had been seen on cam- “Don’t worry,” Greg said, “I’m safe in the called to serve the students of this university.” kept pouring down. see the funnel cloud exit the campus property. pus. A storm in 2002 did about $2.5 mil- president’s office.” When she arrived on campus, Kimberly “The ink on my paper is getting wet,” “I looked out my window to see the tornado lion in damage. Kimberly’s response: “Standing next to began the process of finding temporary hous- Thornbury said. “And I’m like, ‘Lord, it jumping over the 45 bypass,” Dockery said. This time, he says it wasn’t until sunrise the plate glass window in his office?” ing for Union’s 1,100 residential students in cannot get wet. I have to know what that “My initial thoughts were ‘thank God, on Feb. 6 that he completely understood the It was Kimberly pretending to be upset – the homes of faculty and staff members. She number is.’” I think we have escaped,’ only to hear full extent of Union’s losses. because anybody acquainted with her knows told herself that in two hours, she wanted She finally took refuge in an ambulance someone say ‘come quickly! I think it’s hit “We looked across the campus. The dev- that getting her upset is no easy task. She every single student in a bed in a home. to have a dry space to work and write. the residence life area!’” astation was far worse than anything we seems to have a smile permanently tattooed That process kept her occupied at first – so Thornbury quickly discovered that she The next few hours were the most even imagined at the time -- fifteen, twenty on her face. occupied that she hadn’t been able to see in had to trust God to provide people to help challenging in his 12-year presidency. times worse than 2002. But Kimberly, Union’s dean of students, detail the extent of the destruction to Union’s her with the monumental job before her – “My eyes saw what I could not believe. Again, that horrific scene was tempered would soon receive another phone call from campus housing. But as she was walking the responsibilities that allowed to her sleep The devastation was massive, the destruc- by other things Dockery saw on that memo- Union President David S. Dockery that was road with some students, she remembers what only six hours every third night for more tion was beyond comprehension.” rable day-after. certainly no pretending matter. She had she saw when she turned to her right. than two weeks. “Everywhere I turned in the residence life “Wednesday morning, the Union heard on the news that a tornado had hit “It was the first time I turned right, and I “You found a willing face, you looked area, walls were coming down, students University community was at its best. Union, but she had no idea how bad it was. saw the buildings, and I just lost it,” she them in the eye, if they looked credible and were coming out, some of them cut and People came together, cared for each other, “I remember Dr. Dockery calling me and said. “I had no idea. I could never in my competent, then you would give them bleeding, and then I heard these words: saying ‘we’re going to move through this.’ saying that the situation looked dire and tragic, wildest dreams imagine that devastation.” assignments,” Kimberly said. “You could ‘we’re trapped!’ and over here we had four Dockery says that attitude should not be that there could be deaths,” she said. “I remem- One of the most pressing needs not wait for someone to say, ‘Can I help women students trapped and on the other interpreted as false bravado or stoicism. ber the sound of his voice. He’s not prone to Thornbury had to address was contacting you?’ You just had to assume that the Lord side, a number of guys were trapped under “It’s because we have a hope in a providential hyperbole. He’s not dramatic. He’s not prone to parents. But without power on campus, she was going to put people in your path who the fallen walls.” God who had protected us the night before.” emotion. But I could tell this was something didn’t have access to the university’s data had the skills.”

24 Special Edition 2008 www.uu.edu 25 UNIONITE UNIONITE Elizabeth Walker, The door into the Residence Director’s office junior, digital media studies, Louisville, Ky. had come down and wedged against the wall “We could see the actual funnel coming. behind us, which was very good. By the grace of Lightning struck and we could see the tor- Chris Reinke, God, it stopped the ceiling from falling on us. nado and then we got blown back.” vocal performance, sophomore, Louisville, Ky. I remember seeing people walk out of “I told my roommates, ‘let’s get in the nowhere, walking on the rubble with cuts Evangeline Webb, commons’ and right as I shut the door and all over, bleeding everywhere. I would ask freshman, nursing, Wappingers, N.Y. got my roommates in the common area, it them if they were okay and they were like “I was in a room in the Dodd dorm. There hit. The windows exploded and it was real ‘I’m fine, let’s get this stuff off of these guys.’” were about 15 of us in the room. Since I was the noisy for about five seconds, and then it was last one in the bathroom, I had a lot of sticks and over. It was just windy outside after that. Mikias Mohammed, dirt thrown into my face. Three days later, I am A lot of students will say ‘we’re not going freshman, computer science, Ethopia still finding residue in my hair.” to get a tornado.’ When the alarms go off, a “All of a sudden the lights got crazy and lot of students might not go downstairs. But then the big one. Lights went off, came back on Matt Carter, I’m glad they did -- that they did the pre- and went off again. Then came this noise. I freshman, business administration, Steele, Mo. cautions necessary.” thought it was a train. After that I couldn’t hear “I ran to the Adams dorm and held on to anything -- the windows shattered and the the first door I saw. Once the glass shattered Aaron Gilbert, wind smashed me against the wall. Everything in the window, I jumped in the room to Christian studies, junior, Brighton, Tenn. just started to fall down. It was not a good take cover. Amazingly, I came out of the (Aaron was a resident advisor in the Watters Complex) experience, but thank God we are all alive.” storm without a scratch on my body.” “It was very crazy, it was very loud. It did not sound like a freight train, it just kind of Kate Johnson, Luke Burleson, came out of nowhere. It was very spontaneous. marketing, sophomore, Elizabethtown, Ky. sophomore, biology, Jackson, Tenn. I can’t say I was afraid for my life, I just “I can see into my room because all the “The tornado was west of us. We were able to kept saying to myself, ‘I can’t believe this is walls are gone. My TV is in the parking lot; see the shingles flying off of Jennings, and we happening’ and I just asked the Lord to the door to my room is on the stairs; my knew we had to get inside…. Suddenly, the have mercy on us. room is pretty much destroyed.” noise of bursting and shattering glass filled our My life didn’t flash before my eyes or any- ears and we were thrown against the wall.” thing…my ears popped, the windows bust- Claire Hamilton, ed out, it was very loud and then all of a senior, learning foundations, Dyersburg, Tenn. Katy Pope, sudden it was over. (From Fox News television interview) sophomore, digital media studies, Sylacauga, Ala. “At the time, I was just so calm. God just “There were six people in the bathroom really calmed my nerves. We were so thank- already, and six of us were sitting in a bed- ful to be alive afterwards.” room, looking out the window, keeping an od in the Whirlwind: eye on the storm. We jumped up and ran “ Stories of Grace from Sarah Logan, toward the bathroom, but we did not make G the Tornado at Union sophomore, intercultural studies, Franklin, Tenn. University,” written by Tim it there in time. As the storm hit, one of my (From NBC’s Today Show) Ellsworth, Union’s director of news “We just felt God’s hand of protection friends was thrown in the direction of the and media relations, is set for a over us. When you look at the desolation couch and was knocked out. We were all June 1 publication date. The book crying and screaming, not sure of how we is being published by B&H and destruction on our campus and realize were going to get out. None of us was wear- Publishing Group of Nashville, Tenn. there were 1,200 students here and not one ing shoes, but luckily, we found some before It consists of 20 chapters, each a single fatality, you can’t help but say that is a the firefighters helped us out of our room.” different story about a Union stu- miracle and God was here protecting us.” dent, family member or employee. Nathan Tilly, Interspersed throughout the book Drew Head, political science, senior, Dyersburg, Tenn. are brief first-person testimonies sophomore, journalism, Leesburg, Fla. “I was in night class in the Penick Academic from students about their experiences (From the Memphis Commercial Appeal) Complex when a woman came in our class during the torna- “With collapsing buildings, it is a shock do. Also includ- room and told us we were under a tornado that no one was killed. That was God, and ed is a 16-page warning. All of the sudden, we felt the walls if you can’t recognize it, then you need to insert of color put on some glasses and open your eyes.” begin to shake and seven of my classmates photographs, all and I took shelter under a table. Soon after, stu- taken by Union dents from all over campus began flooding photographer Student journalists Elizabeth Wood (’10), Claire in (to the academic building). Women were Morris Yates (’09) and Alison Ball (’08) gathered crying and lots of people were bloody.” Abernathy. interviews for this story.

www.uu.edu 27 UNIONITE arty Clements is the director hospital, but no ambulances had yet arrived. under at least 20 feet of debris wasn’t great of Jackson-Madison county’s So crews commandeered a radio station van, enough, a second strong line of storms moved emergency management clearing equipment to make room for the through before all the students had been freed. agency. Throughout the day first patient to be transported. A few other It too brought the threat of tornadoes, but Mon Feb. 5, he and his crews had planned transports followed in pick-up trucks and Clements says no one chose to seek shelter. for a possible rapid response somewhere private cars until ambulances arrived. “I can’t make anybody endanger their in the mid-south region because severe Union students also helped free a few own life,” said Clements. “That has to be weather was expected. temporarily trapped students by lifting a choice. I heard the sirens for the second But when he arrived on the Union away debris. But the more difficult rescues wave of storms. Everyone chose to stay. University campus shortly after 7 p.m., he – in particular the final seven – required Nobody left and ran for cover.” encountered the unexpected. expert precision. The dedication of the crews was “My very first thought was ‘I don’t have Moving the wrong thing at the wrong described repeatedly by rescued students enough body bags,’” Clements said. “You time could have created a second tragedy. like Kevin Furniss. could hear some people screaming.” “We used a lot of the Union students,” says “I met the guy who said he actually Clements turned on some initial lights Clements. “A lot of them wanted to help. I climbed into the hole and put an IV into and set up a triage area. He called for the asked for volunteers and a bunch of the guys me,” Furniss said from his hospital bed Tennessee Task Force, a search and rescue ran up and said, “What do we need to do?” several days later. Furniss says his memory team that brought 31 professionals and The Jackson Fire Department incorpo- of that moment is fuzzy, but that the dedi- search dogs to campus. But he says some of rated students on the perimeter of the cation of the rescuer is very much in focus. the best initial help was already on campus. search and rescue area. “That next morning, he came to see me.” “Fortunately for us, there were quite a few Union President David S. Dockery wit- By the time the final student, Jason Kaspar, nursing students there and other EMTs who nessed that same effort. had been freed from the rubble, nearly five gave us help immediately,” Clements said. “Students followed each other, they hours had passed. Clements had a few “The people I was really happy to see there embraced each other throughout the process,” moments to reflect on an effort that, at its were the nurses, who jumped in and helped. said Dockery, who also said he watched a peak, involved as many as 150 rescue workers. They started bandaging people up and then number of students simply talk to those who “It really gets to be stressful when it’s such a we could help relocate them.” were trapped in an attempt to keep spirits up. large thing, especially at night,” Clements said. Clements says the nurses identified a vic- “Teamwork was evident.” “The training that these folks have is tim that needed immediate transport to the As if the challenge of rescuing students from excellent.”

www.uu.edu 29 UNIONITE Andrea Turner (’08) contributed to this story.

eyond the residence life areas, the “I was really surprised that (the damage) Some books were just a loss, some looked worst damage on Union’s campus wasn’t any worse than it was,” said Ray Van like they were fine.” occurred at Jennings Hall, a build- Neste, director of the Ryan Center and asso- Three other rare books were kept safe in ing on the west campus that houses ciate professor of Christian studies. “When the case alongside the Geneva Bible. An Bthe departments of music and communication I saw the stuff laying on where the Geneva English Hexapla, a Beza New Testament arts as well as the School of Christian Studies. Bible was, I was excited that it was still and a copy of the Wycliffe New Testament Half of the Jennings roof was ripped from under the glass case and was not damaged.” are all undamaged. The library also contains a the building and scattered across a parking Van Neste and students boxed the books page from a Luther Bible which received water lot to the immediate north. Heavy rains that and moved the entire library to its tempo- damage, but is currently being restored. quickly followed the Feb. 5 tornado created rary home at Cornerstone Community Some classes that met in Jennings Hall extensive water damage throughout the Church. The future location of the Ryan and other damaged buildings moved to the building, especially on the third floor. Center is uncertain, but Van Neste and Penick and Blasingame academic complexes. The R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies others are continuing work to prevent But other classes had to move off campus lost approximately 10 percent of its library further water damage to the other books. entirely. Music, for example, conducted holdings. The Ryan Center is immediately “What we have to do now is get (the some classes at West Jackson Baptist below where the roof damage occurred. books) out (of the boxes) and let them air,” Church; Continuing studies classes that Water, mold and mildew caused the Van Neste said. “The moisture could continue met in Hammons Hall moved to Trinity largest problems. to cause trouble. Christian Academy. A 400–year-old Geneva Bible, the oldest “The books, though, were on shelves. In Drywall has been ripped from much of book in the library's possession, was undam- some places the shelves were shielded; in the building, and a timetable for getting aged. It is kept in a glass case along with other places the shelf itself was water-logged Jennings Hall fully operational again is three other rare books. so that (moisture) came out into the books. expected by the end of spring semester.

www.uu.edu 31 UNIONITE he day after the tornado hit mentioned in more than 1,700 news know, this is a unique place, because it Union’s campus, Senior Vice reports. Union students provided inter- is very close-knit…” President for University views for at least 14 local television Hamilton: “It really is…” Relations Charles Fowler markets outside of Tennessee; CNN A Google News search on Feb. 14 wasT in the Bangkok airport, trying to and FOX News were on campus follow- showed 3,979 media stories in which return home as quickly as possible from ing the tornado, as were Good Morning Union University is mentioned. In some a trip to Thailand. America, The Today Show, The Early of those stories, Union is mentioned “Some of the television monitors in Show, MSNBC, The Weather Channel only in passing. Others are major fea- the gate area were tuned to Sky News,” and network affiliates from Memphis, ture stories about the university. WBBJ coverage emphasized seriousness of storm said Fowler. “They had picked up news Nashville, Atlanta, Boston and St. Louis. Most major American newspapers iewers of WBBJ-TV who tuned in did live updates at the top of each hour. “Gary and Mike specifically mentioned feeds from American news programs. So Union University representatives did carried the story, including New York for news at six o’clock or “Wheel of By the start of the station’s 5 p.m. on the air that Union was in the path.” said I was standing there in Bangkok getting live or taped radio interviews with a Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Fortune” Feb. 5 found weather newscast, weather anchors Gary Pickens Grantham, who just moments later sent the my first look at Hurt and Watters after dozen programs. Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles coverageV in its place. and Mike McEvoy were tracking the first news crews to campus. the tornado.” Typical of the many live interviews Times, Chicago Tribune and Detroit WBBJ News Director Brad Grantham progress of a threatening storm cell. By Among those first responders was Keli News coverage of the disaster spread conducted with Union students was this Free Press, among many others. says at that point, there was never any 5:15 a tornado touchdown was reported McAlister, a Union graduate who recently across the world, but started at home exchange Feb. 6 between Claire Hamilton, But the list extends to the world’s question the station was going to stay in Cordova, near Memphis. returned to the Jackson market as a news with teams of reporters and photogra- a senior learning foundations major leading publications as well. Reuters, an with the storm coverage and forego reg- Radar images provided what McEvoy anchor after working in Oklahoma City phers from The Jackson Sun. from Dyersburg, Tenn. and Fox News international news service, sent the ularly scheduled programming. called “textbook” signs of a dangerous and Seattle as a reporter. The newspaper fed content to wire anchor E. D. Hill: story to newspapers throughout Europe “The models were pretty consistent,” situation. “They initially pulled up to the 45 services and helped spread the word Hamilton: “They just told us to evac- and Africa. Stories appeared in China Grantham said. “A good portion of West Both Pickens and McEvoy made ref- Bypass and Channing Way and all they saw globally. They provided poignant uate our rooms, and they took us to a View and New Zealand Herald. Tennessee, Arkansas and Northern erence to a hook pattern in the image was darkness,” Grantham said. “They then accounts of survival, and later helped very safe place right afterwards. All the At least fifteen college newspapers Mississippi would be hit with some form that usually indicates tornado forma- saw injured people all around them. The would-be volunteers understand the Union faculty were there to help us and assigned reporters to the story. The of severe weather, including tornadoes.” tion. They watched the storm move to crew was trying to take in what people were damage was so pervasive that private it was not chaotic at all. Everyone was just Kentucky Colonel (University of Grantham says the National Weather the northeast -- on a path that some- telling them about Union being hit so hard. citizens would have to wait a while to there to take care of us. It was wonderful.” Kentucky) sent a crew to Jackson to get Service boosted its alert status for the times seemed to follow Interstate 40. “They were all amazed at the response aid in the recovery. Hill: “Well, you know, one of my for- first-person accounts. Other campus news- region from “moderate” to “high” at about At 7 p.m., a tornado warning was from EMA, nursing students and volunteers Among broadcast journalists, a media mer interns knows a lot of the students papers prepared stories about Union’s suc- noon. From that point forward, the station issued in Madison County. that had gotten there so quickly.” monitoring service reports Union was who are there now and she says, you cessful residence life emergency plan.

32 Special Edition 2008 www.uu.edu 33 UNIONITE UNIONITE President Dockery meets with Tenn.Governor, Phil Bredesen, State Senator Lowe Finney, FEMA Director, Paul Paulson (center), and Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff (right).

Visiting Dignitaries say Union is ‘an inspiration’ Brittany Howerton, a public relations major, and Andrea Turner, an English major, contributed to this story. President Dockery praises nion University became a frequent “The fact that no one died on this cam- Tennessee’s other U.S. Senator, Lamar entry on the itineraries of state, pus is a real testimony of the preparedness Alexander, visited the campus on Feb. 18. national and denominational leaders this campus and administration had here,” “Americans love a good comeback story,” local emergency response Uinspecting Tennessee tornado damage. Bredesen said. “Without it or without the Alexander said. “Union’s story will inspire he Jackson community rallied around Union One reason was the collection of media ‘training run’ in 2002 with the tornado the nation.” University from the first moments of the emergency. outlets in place along Walker Drive, set up for that came through, it is inconceivable to Morris H. Chapman, president of the “There was incredible support everywhere we live broadcasts. Another was the devastation so me there would not have been extensive Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive turned,”T Dockery said. “Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist obvious in Union’s residence life complex. loss of life when you see the extent of the Committee, and Frank Page, SBC presi- and County Mayor Jimmy Harris were wonderful to “We’re going to be here, to stand shoul- devastation.” dent, called on Southern Baptists to step us, and so were Sheriff David Woolfork, City Police der to shoulder with the governor and help On a separate visit, U.S. Senator Bob up and help the Union family rebuild their Chief Rick Staples and their departments, Chief James you get cleaned up and get back to school,” Corker made similar comments. campus and lives. Pearson and the Jackson Fire Department and the said Homeland Security Secretary Michael “The nation focused on this outstanding "The costs of repair will be steep and the President Dockery shows U.S. Senator Bob Jackson-Madison Emergency Management Agency.” Chertoff, the highest-ranking Bush admin- university,” Corker said, “and I have to tell adjustments many,” Chapman told Baptist Corker the tornado damage, accompanied Dockery also praised the Jackson-Madison General istration representative to come to campus. you the way the students handled them- Press. “I ask Southern Baptists everywhere by Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist and Hospital staff, and the Jackson Energy Authority, as well Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen praised the selves here has inspired a nation. I know to lift up this sister institution in prayerful Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris. as volunteers who showed up from day one forward. preparedness exhibited in the residence life area, that Union’s leaders can be awfully proud concern and support.” calling it an example for other universities. of these students.”

34 Special Edition 2008 UNIONITE