In This Podcast: Audio recorded on KFGO 10-years ago on the 50th anniversary of the Great Fargo Tornado.

Photo Courtesy Tornado History Project

Mercedes Munson Erickson, the mother of 6 children killed by the tornado at their home at 818 25th St. North in Fargo on June 20, 1957.  

Six of her seven children were at home awaiting her arrival from work so they could celebrate her 36th birthday.  (Her son Leroy was at another home babysitting.) The storm struck before Mercedes arrived.  (She had to wait for her replacement who was late.)

She talks of the last conversation she had with her daughter before the storm ended the phone conversation.  

She spoke of finding her dead children, and the search for the other.  

In this podcast she also told of her surviving sons reaction. ("He didn't want to go to the funeral.")   

We learned how difficult it was to recover with terrible rains beleaguering rescuers.  

And, she spoke of what she did "after the storm."

This interview was done on the 50th-anniversary of that terrible day in Fargo history.  She died in September 2009, at age 88.  But, as you can note from this conversation, she had vivid and clear memories of the awful day her children were taken away.

(Jack Sunday & Amy Iler are talk-show hosts at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. "It Takes 2 with Jack & Amy" can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm. Follow Amy on Twitter @AmyKFGO. Follow Jack on Twitter @nodakjack.)