We were reminded again this week how history is a living thing that is often shaped and reshaped in the telling — sometimes at the time of a historical event, and sometimes, 90 years later.

We were happy to hear from Bob Bumgarner, who was able to fill in some gaps about the 1928 tornado, the front page subject of our Tuesday edition.

Bob is the great-grandson of Marvin Bumgarner, who lost his life when the tornado struck Austin on Aug. 20 of that year. Four others lost their lives in Austin, and three others in Iowa, where the tornado began.

Newspaper reports of the day resulted in two major inaccuracies: the name of Bumgarner, which was consistently spelled three different ways, none of them correct; and the name of Marvin’s son, Harold, who was supposedly killed in the storm. Not so, said Bob. Harold’s younger brother, Raymond, nine years of age, Bob said, was the one who died in the storm.

It was apparent to us while collecting information for the story that many of the initial facts, such as the ages of victims, and name spellings, were wrong. Further checking of death records (in defense of those early reporters, those avenues were not readily available in 1928) allowed us to correct some names and ages for our article, but we knew there was something wrong in the reporting of the Bumgarners’ deaths, since we could not locate death records on them. Now we know why.

Bob was well aware how inaccurate those reports of 90 years past could be — he said he was also frustrated in his attempts to fill out family history, but was glad for the opportunity to set the record straight. His own searches sprang from wanting to know more about the event since, like many families who have suffered tragedy, some in the family did not want to talk about what had happened.

The recounting of the event elicited comments from others in the community, with some offering their photographs of the aftermath. It is a good indicator of how the disaster affected the community.

We should note that out of bad things, good can come. Both the Paramount Theatre, which replaced an earlier theater destroyed in the storm, and the Austin Utilities plant, were built (or in the case of the AU, rebuilt) following the tornado. Ironically, that plant is being demolished right now – not by natural forces, but by a demolition contractor who is clearing the way for a new recreation center and YMCA. A new AU building opened in 2016.

We extend thanks to another reader, Roger Jacobs, who sent us another photo of the tornado’s aftermath. His wife’s grandmother from Austin had many postcard photos of the storm; this non-postcard photo, however, was taken by a “Nelsen.” “Piece of wood found driven into wall through picture. 208 E. Water St. (Fourth Avenue Northeast)” which also shows the force of the storm. Water Street was the site of much of the damage wrought by the storm.

Our identification of the Park Theatre, (notated as such in a local collection) was identified by Roger’s family as “Sam Young’s Ice House.”

Yikes.

As we said, 90 years later, our understanding of that time continues to evolve.