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Date Published: September 16, 2004
Hurricane could bring rain, tornadoes to tri-county area
By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com
The National Weather Service issued a special weather
statement Wednesday afternoon indicating the possibility of severe
weather for Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties today through
Saturday.
The center of Hurricane Ivan is expected to make
landfall as a Category 3 storm on the central Gulf Coast early this
morning with winds of 115 mph. Hurricane-force winds are expected to
extend outward for 105 miles, and tropical storm-force winds are
expected 290 miles from the eye.
The bulk of Ivan is
projected to pass far to the west of central South Carolina, but
rain bands could extend this far east and the storm is expected to
slow once it makes landfall.
"This storm is so huge," said
Vic Jones, Sumter County's public safety director. "This storm is
big enough; it's going to make its own weather. It looks like a rain
event for us, but there's a threat for tornadoes."
Based on
the latest track, the weather service is forecasting total rainfall
of 1 to 3 inches for the tri-county area. Wind gusts of 30 mph are
also possible. Bands of showers and thunderstorms are expected to
move through the area beginning today and continue through
Saturday.
"Some of these outer bands could spawn tornadoes,"
Jones said. "Frances reminded us last week what could
happen."
The remnants of Hurricane Frances spawned several
tornadoes in Sumter, Lee and Clarendon counties last week,
destroying homes and causing a few injuries.
Jones said his
biggest concern is for the public to know what to do in case of
tornadoes. Jones said residents should know the difference between a
tornado watch and a warning.
"A tornado watch means
conditions are ripe for a tornado to develop but one is not in
existence," Jones said. "A warning means a tornado is in existence.
It has been sighted by a spotter or has been detected on radar. The
warning will include the location of the tornado and the direction
in which it is going.
Jones said residents in a tornado
warning area should have a plan already in place.
"They need
to go to the center point of the house," Jones said. "In my house,
the safest place is a hallway closet. If they're in a mobile home,
they need to get out. They need to have a place already picked
out."
Jones said several phone calls were received Sept. 7
from Sumter residents wanting to know about shelters when a tornado
warning was issued for Sumter County.
"We have hurricane
shelters," Jones said. "In an area where there's a hurricane
warning, you have time for people to go to shelters. There's no such
thing as tornado shelters. Tornadoes happen so fast."
Jones
said he is most concerned about people living in mobile
homes.
"They must have a plan in place," he said. "For
anybody living in a mobile home, if there's a warning in their area
then they must get out of the mobile home. They should have a place
picked out close by. If they don't have a place to go, then they
should go outside and lie down in the lowest area they can
find.
Marc Spilde, a meteorologist with accuweather.com, said
severe weather is a possibility for eastern South
Carolina.
"Alabama, Georgia and the Upstate of South Carolina
are going to have the biggest threat for heavy rainfall and severe
weather," Spilde said. "There's going to be some outer bands
affecting the Sumter area as early as (today). But I think during
the day Friday and into Friday night will be the biggest concern for
the residents in your area. Now, that doesn't mean that you couldn't
have severe weather (today)."
The outlook for severe weather
has resulted in the cancellation of events scheduled for tonight and
Friday. People with information on cancellations are asked to call
The Item at (803) 774-1226. The information will be posted on
the newspaper's Web site and published in the print edition on
Friday.
Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or
803-491-4533.
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September 17, 2004 
