A Williston local was among those who braved an F-4 tornado that demolished most of the housing complexes on his college campus in Jackson, Tenn. It was among many tragedies reported along the south Tuesday.

The Associated Press reported tornadoes wreaked havoc in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, causing deaths and injuries and pummeling multiple homes/buildings in its path.

Dylan Riekeman, 20, his roommate and six of their college pals were waiting out the storm in Riekeman's dorm at Union University. They knew something could be coming. When broadcasts warned of tornadoes an hour west of them, and the sirens sounded, they became more alarmed.

"We were there because of the storm," he said.

He had just dropped off his girlfriend, Arica, at another friend's residency nearby. Riekeman said students have become accustomed to tornado drills and what they should do. He said warnings will come out a couple of times in a school year. Yet, this storm proved a little too close.

"It got really dark. It's hard to describe the sound, but the wind speed picked up. I could tell the difference. I said, 'We need to get in the bathroom now,'" recalled Riekeman. "We opened the window. It only lasted about 5 or 10 seconds."

His dorm was spared. Yet, that wasn't the case for most.

"It wasn't until I couldn't reach anybody that I became concerned," Riekeman said. "Debris was everywhere. There were tree branches all over. It was dark out by then, so it was tough to tell how good or bad it was. We got out on our side of campus and it didn't look all that bad. I tried to get a hold of Arica (Ward), but the phone lines were all tied up."

As they crossed campus, they learned the situation was much worse.

He was relieved to find the dorm where his girlfriend was staying had minor damage.

"Two of my car windows were broken out," Riekeman said.

Rumors began surfacing of collapsed buildings.

"There were walls down on the dorms and bath tubs were hanging out," Riekeman said. "It was dark and tough to tell how good or bad it was."

He said the roofing was blown off a major hall, where music studies are conducted.

Students were told to go to a larger building so a head count could help school officials determine who might be missing.

He later heard some 20 students were trapped in buildings. Riekeman said he had one friend who had been injured after being trapped.

"He had to stay in the hospital because he lost a lot of blood," Riekeman said.

Almost all of those trapped were rescued by midnight that evening. He was uncertain of how many were seriously injured at the Union campus, but there were reports it was in the dozens.

Ninety dorms dot the campus.

"About 80 percent of them are unlivable now," Riekeman said. "They only allowed students from three or four of the dorms to return and get their stuff because it was safe enough. Mine was one of those."

Right now, he and the other students are not allowed on Union campus as cleanup continues. Riekeman said President George W. Bush may visit the campus today.

He said through contacts of his church group, students were received until more long-term housing could be found for those ousted by the tornado. Riekeman is finding support through his church group and church members in the community. The group has been a source of support for him.

"I've never seen anything like this in 20 years of my life that was this destructive," he said.

Riekeman believes there was some obvious intercession from a higher power that nobody died at the college site that day. He said of the 3,000 students enrolled at Union, 1,200 reside on campus. Night classes were also in session at the school Tuesday evening.

However, he said some had to stay in the hospital a few days or suffered serious injury..

What happens next depends on the success of cleanup and ability of students to find housing.

"We're going to try and return to classes by Feb. 18," Riekeman said.

Riekeman is considering giving his dorm to someone who has no place else to live to attempt to get things back to normal. He credits a church family for taking him in, and has other options.

He hopes classes resume as normal as they can for the sake of the graduating seniors and the morale of the student body.

Riekeman is a junior math major at Union University in Jackson which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Church. The city of 90,000 is located about 70 miles east of Memphis. Two tornado-related deaths were reported there.

"The bank next to us was damaged, a Walgreen's was damage and also an assisted living facility," he said.

The 2005 graduate of Trinity Christian High School is the son of James and Karen Riekeman of Williston.