"I didn't know what to do. I think if it had lasted two minutes longer it would have torn the whole house apart," Mustapher said Monday.

A suspected tornado formed over Lake Moultrie on Monday morning and smashed with no warning into this cotton field and cattle neighborhood in rural Berkeley County, as the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne rolled across the Lowcountry. Another twister reportedly touched down Monday near Lake Marion, injuring four.

James Rembert was working in one of his fields in Berkeley County when he felt the wind pick up. Metal grain silos skidded across the field, and one dug into a corner of a mobile home.

"I was standing right here," Rembert said, pointing to a spot next to his tractor. "I got into the cattle chute and lay down flat on my stomach and held onto a pole. It probably wasn't the safest place to be, but it would work."

The tornado mangled three mobile homes so badly a neighbor said it looked like they exploded. In its wake the Mustaphers' roof appeared torn open by a can opener, pink insulation dangling over the edge. Dozens of trees lay snapped like twigs.

Jeanne was the fourth tropical storm to cross South Carolina this year -- the first time four tropical systems have done that in more than a century. It has made for a relentless, wearying season.

The storm is expected to blow out of the Lowcountry this morning, with gusty 15-25 mph winds easing off during the day. There's a 40 percent chance of morning rain.

On Monday, wind and rain blowing in bands from offshore ripped through the Lowcountry. Gusts of tropical storm strength, 40 mph, were reported downtown and in Charleston harbor.

Among at least three other funnel clouds reported in lower South Carolina, a tornado also tore through a dozen or so mobile homes in a small park in Alcolu, near Lake Marion. "Several homes were ... demolished," said Clarendon County Sheriff's Maj. Freddie Nelson. "It twisted them up and piled them all in a pile."

At least four people were taken to the hospital with injuries; none was life-threatening. At least three homes were destroyed and at least five others were damaged, said Anthony Mack, county emergency services coordinator.

The tornado also damaged a Head Start center next door with 132 students inside. None was injured.

Gloria Starks, Tyrone Mustapher's sister, had her car thrown spinning into a ditch by a blast of wind near Greeleyville. She escaped with bruises.

By Monday evening, the National Weather Service's Charleston office had issued 10 tornado warnings, including one each in Hampton and Allendale counties and eight in Georgia. No warning was issued for the Pineville storm.

Despite the damage, there was a sense the Lowcountry had dodged a bullet. Under a tornado watch from Sunday night through Monday night, Charleston, Dorchester and Colleton counties reported no major weather-related problems.

"We really expected it to be more active," said weather service meteorologist Jerry Harrison. When Hurricane Frances followed nearly the same path in early September, the office issued 46 warnings in 36 hours.

"On Friday I was convinced we'd be activating the emergency operations center and talking about evacuations. Just one moment looking at the pictures out of Florida makes you realize how lucky we've been," said Jamie Thomas, Charleston County spokeswoman.

A handful of power outages were caused by blown transformers.

For instance, a small chunk of North Charleston temporarily lost power around 7 p.m. after wind blew a tree into a power line off Aviation Avenue.

Bob and Billie Jean Kraus, in town from Florida for the Davis Cup, heard two loud explosions in their room at the Best Western on Core Road. They stepped outside to see the sky light up in bright reds and greens as a transformer exploded a third time near the motel. An SCE&G crew arrived minutes later to repair the damage.

Heavy rain during an "astronomical" high tide flooded streets, particularly on the flood-prone Charleston peninsula.

An astronomical tide is a rise or fall given an extra tug by gravity during an alignment of the moon and sun with the earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It's a monthly event. The current tide is higher because of storm surf and a full moon.

The flood tide for Monday evening was expected to be 6.5 feet. It takes 7 feet to flood downtown, Harrison said.

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