A History of Alabama's Deadliest Tornadoes by Kelly Kazek

Author:Kelly Kazek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2010-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

“LIFE STOPPED AND STARTED OVER”

Marilyn McBay was a young mother when the tornado struck her parents’ home, at which she and her husband were staying on April 3, 1974.

She was holding six-day-old Mark, and her mother was holding two-year-old Jason. As the family, seven members in all, were sucked from the home on U.S. Highway 72 East in Limestone County, the children were pulled from the protective arms. It was hours before a dazed Marilyn discovered that her sons were okay.

For her family, the aftermath was a time to give thanks, despite the loss of her parents’ home and possessions and her mother's serious injuries that left her in pain for much of the remainder of her life.

“We were all spared,” she said. “It's a day to be thankful. You found out how good people are. Everyone was just so wonderful to draw together in the community.”

Still, the losses were hard. “My parents lost everything,” she said. “It was heartbreaking to see your parents start over. But Mother wasn't a complainer at all. She was in pain a lot, but you wouldn't know it.”

Marilyn never dwelled on memories of the day, she said, except perhaps “when April 3 comes around.”

“There are so many funny things and tragic things that happen,” she said. “It was a joke later on when Mother would look for something, and we'd look at each other and say, ‘Was that before the storm or after the storm that we had that?’” Marilyn says. “It was a point where life stopped and started over.”

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