Our 'Throwback Thursday' dates to this week of February back in 1981, when more severe winter weather swept through the region, bringing a tornado outbreak to Baldwin County.  The most severe twister touched down in Bay Minette, demolishing much of Bay Minette Middle School. 

Reports in The Baldwin Times numbered the injured students at 30, with most treated at local hospitals for bruises and scrapes from flying debris.  Two were reportedly transported to USA Medical Center.  None of the injuries were life-threatening.

The tornado struck shortly after students arrived for school on a Tuesday morning.  The storm demolished the gymnasium, blowing apart the roof and taking down two walls.  A second tornado was reported to touch down later that morning in the Pine Grove community.

The severe storm outbreak also drenched the region with heavy rainfall, up to seven inches in some locations.  Roads were inundated or washed out entirely.  Slicker-clad emergency workers and police endured the downpour while transporting the injured children for treatment or helping them board arriving ambulances at the school.

Also appearing in the same 1981 newspaper edition, a new pair of single-vision eyeglasses was advertised for $19.50.  Five quarts of motor oil cost $4 for do-it-yourselfers . . .  and a full-service oil change cost $9.95.  At the lumber yard, 2 x 4 framing studs cost 69 cents.  A unit in Lake Forest's Sea Cliff condominiums was listed for $20,500.

(Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature on GulfCoastNewsToday.com featuring local news events, as covered during the same week in history by Gulf Coast Newspapers)