One dead in
tornadoes from Jeanne
Associated
Press
One person died after an
apparent tornado sparked by Tropical Depression Jeanne touched down
near Ridgeway late Monday, Fairfield County sheriff's deputies said.
The storm was reported about 9:45 p.m., Chief Deputy Keith Lewis
told Columbia television stations.
About a dozen people were taken to the hospital. One man thrown
from a mobile home died early Tuesday, Lewis told broadcasters.
The man's name has not been released. Lewis was not immediately
available Tuesday and no one else had information on the storm, a
dispatcher in Winnsboro said.
The other people taken to the hospital were treated and released,
Lewis said.
Five homes were destroyed and three others were damaged, he said.
About two dozen people were taken to shelters Monday evening.
At 5 a.m. Tuesday, Jeanne was located about 28 miles
east-southeast of Greenville. The storm, with highest sustained
winds of 20 mph, was moving north-northeast at 20 mph.
The storm dumped about 4 inches of rain in Anderson, Greenville
and Greenwood. About 3 inches was reported in Walhalla and
Orangeburg. About 2 inches was reported in Columbia.
A flash flood watch was in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday for a
dozen counties in the northwestern corner of the state. Those
included Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Greenville,
Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union and York
counties.
A tornado reported early Monday evening in Newberry damaged half
a dozen homes, destroying one, and brought down trees and power
lines, the National Weather Service reported.
Earlier Monday, five people were taken to Clarendon Memorial
Hospital for treatment for injuries after a tornado set down in
Alcolu.
Three mobile homes were destroyed and five damaged, said Anthony
Mack, the county emergency service coordinator.
One of the injured suffered head and neck injuries and was to be
transported to Columbia, said Natalie Davis, the director of nursing
at the hospital. The others were treated for minor injuries.
The storm also damaged a Head Start center, dislodging air
conditioners and causing some roof damage. There were 132 students
in the building but none were injured, authorities said.
The winds also damaged mobile homes in two other communities near
Manning, Mack said.
The Highway Patrol said high winds were to blame for a dump truck
blowing over in Columbia. The driver was taken to the hospital for
treatment. Five people were injured in another accident near
Columbia, involving 15 vehicles. Troopers think the chain-reaction
crash was started by a car hydroplaning on a rain-slick Interstate
20.
It was the first time since 1893 that the tracks of four tropical
systems crossed South Carolina in the same hurricane season.
Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston made landfall within
a few miles of each other in Charleston County last month. The
remnants of Bonnie also tracked into the state after that storm made
landfall on the Gulf of Mexico.
The fringes of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan also brought heavy
rain, tornadoes and damage, though the center of those storms did
not pass through the
state. |