NEWBERRY, S.C. — An EF2 tornado with winds of up to 115 mph was confirmed in Newberry County, the strongest tornado confirmed in South Carolina so far from last weekend’s storms.
The National Weather Service said the tornado touched down around 6:05 a.m. Sunday near the area where Henderson Ferry Road and Old Blair Road meet, close to the Broad River and the Newberry-Fairfield county line. It stayed on the ground for about four minutes, traveled approximately 1.47 miles and reached a maximum width of 450 yards.
The path crossed a small, sparsely populated area that includes game-management land and part of the Sumter National Forest. A Department of Natural Resources wildlife officer first alerted the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office to what appeared to be tornado damage, and Sheriff Lee Foster said the damage included snapped and uprooted trees, minor damage to one home and an overturned camper trailer.
No injuries or deaths were reported. Rainfall over the weekend ran well above early forecasts, reaching 5 to 7 inches in parts of the county, and one driver who went into a flooded creek was rescued by Little Mountain Fire and Rescue without injury.
Newberry County public works crews cleared trees and branches from county-maintained roads in the area. The Newberry County tornado is stronger than the EF1 tornadoes confirmed in Allendale and Barnwell counties from the same storms.
