At least seven tornadoes hit SC, leaving more than 40,000 without power a day later
Thousands of people are still without power a day after devastating storms, including seven tornadoes, tore across South Carolina early Monday morning.
At least nine people died, more were hurt, and property was damaged and destroyed by the severe weather.
While seven tornadoes have already been confirmed, there’s at least three more being investigated by crews from the National Weather Service, Columbia meteorologist Tenia Morrison told The State.
The storms were the most severe, state-wide breakout of tornadoes in South Carolina since March 15, 2008, Morrison said.
As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, about 40,000 power customers were still reporting outages in updates provided by Dominion Energy, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Duke Energy, and Santee Cooper.
About 500 of those customers live in Richland, Lexington, and Kershaw Counties.
While crews work to restore power, South Carolina Department of Transportation employees were busy clearing debris from roads all over the state.
About 3,000 trees in South Carolina were knocked down by the storm, according to an estimate from Andrew Leapart, SCDOT’s chief engineer for operations.
Leaphart said a thousand of those trees were in Hampton County, where five people died.
In neighboring Colleton County, one storm-related death was confirmed by the sheriff’s office.
The person was killed when a tree crashed into a home, according to the sheriff’s office.
The homes of 200 to 250 people in Hampton County were damaged or destroyed in the storm, Hampton County Emergency Management Director Susanne Peeples told the Island Packet.
The severe weather that ravaged Hampton County has not been confirmed as a tornado, yet, according to the NWS. But none of the storms that impacted the Lowcountry were officially classified by the NWS office in Charleston as of noon, Morrison said.
Of the seven confirmed tornadoes, three were in the Upstate, three were in the Grand Strand and one was in the Midlands.
It is expected to be confirmed that at least one more tornado touched down in the Midlands, according to Morrison.
The tornado that definitely hit the Midlands was rated an EF3 an estimated wind speed of 140 mph, according to the NWS. The tornado, with a maximum width of 770 yards, covered nearly 32 miles, from Barnwell to Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, the NWS reported.
A married couple in Neeses was killed when their mobile home was lifted off the ground, the Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office told The State.
Seven other injuries were caused by that tornado, according to the NWS.
An EF-3 storm was also reported in the Upstate, Morrison said. That tornado touched down in the Westminster area of Oconee County, while an EF2 hit both Pickens and Greenville counties, and an EF-0 was spotted in Pickens County, according to Morrison.
One person in the Upstate died during the severe weather, according to Oconee County coroner Karl Addis.
A 77-year-old security guard at the Borg Warner Plant near Seneca suffered blunt force traumatic injuries when the guard building where he was stationed collapsed at about 3:30 a.m., Addis said in a news release.
No deaths were reported in the Myrtle Beach area, but three tornadoes were confirmed there by the NWS.
An EF2 storm moved from Georgetown County to the Murrells Inlet area, while two EF1s were reported in Georgetown County, according to Morrison.
A 114-mph wind gust was recorded in Murrells Inlet, The Sun News reported.
Along with NWS crews, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division is conducting damage surveys this week.
EF Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:
▪ EF0...Weak......65 to 85 mph
▪ EF1...Weak......86 to 110 mph
▪ EF2...Strong....111 to 135 mph
▪ EF3...Strong....136 to 165 mph
▪ EF4...Violent...166 to 200 mph
▪ EF5...Violent...>200 mph
SOURCE: National Weather Service
