Woman Recalls Granddaughter’s Birth During 1999 Tornado
Aug 11, 2019, 9:23 PM | Updated: Aug 12, 2019, 1:09 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – In the middle of the chaos of a tornado in Salt Lake City, 20 years ago, a baby was being born inside LDS Hospital.
When Kathleen Marshall walked into the hospital with plans to welcome a new granddaughter into the world, she had no idea that a tornado would soon come through downtown. The path of the tornado went right over the hospital.
“While I was walking in, I was thinking, ‘I wonder if I should bring an umbrella,'” Marshall recalled. “I was looking at the sky. ‘I wonder if I should bring an umbrella. No, it’s not going to rain.'”
Later, as Marshall said she heard a lightning strike nearby, the power went out. A backup generator came on.
“If you couldn’t get the light from the windows, you were in the dark,” Marshall said. “They had just a little bit of light that they had from a backup generator that they had used for special things, like delivering a baby.”
Marshall said the tornado sounded like a train.
“I didn’t know it was a tornado. I just knew it was a big storm,” Marshall said. “One of the nurses had a little portable radio, and we would gather around, listening to that radio to find out what was going on outside.”
While there was chaos outside, it was a proud moment for the Marshall family inside.
Where were you during the Salt Lake City tornado?
Posted by KSL 5 TV on Sunday, August 11, 2019
“The tornado hit just right at the time when Megan was born,” Marshall said.
Megan Marshall turned 20 years old on the anniversary of the tornado, and has been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She obviously doesn’t remember the tornado, but she’s always been reminded of it.
Her parents now live in Denver, Colorado.
“We always call her our tornado baby,” Marshall said.
She also said her granddaughter enjoys a bit of celebrity status in the Philippines.
“Just for the fact that she’s very tall, and she’s blond,” Marshall said, laughing.
