Dear Parents:

Good morning. Last night around 11:00 p.m., a major storm hit the city of Jackson. The downtown section of our city was badly damaged. The Union campus had significant hail damage, but the tornado was south of the campus. We have many broken windows and much water damage, but the extent of the damage to the campus, thank goodness, is quite limited. Several dorm rooms and many student cars were hit by the "baseball size" hail. We give thanks to God that no one was hurt.

I want you to know that our staff monitored the situation throughout the evening and did a marvelous job providing care for our residential students who were on campus. All day classes are cancelled this Monday. It is a volunteer day for our campus to assist with the clean-up both on our campus and throughout the Jackson community.

Not to alarm you, but there is one thing you need to know. The Jackson Energy Authority water treatment plant was hit by last night's storm. We have encouraged everyone on campus not to drink the water (unless it has been boiled) for the next 24 hours. We are making available to students bottled water, soft drinks and fruit drinks at no charge.

Thank you for your prayers for us and the city of Jackson at this time. Please be assured that everyone is safe. You will want to check with your student regarding any damage to their room or automobile. Classes are scheduled to resume this evening and will continue, Lord willing, on a regular schedule for the rest of the week.