Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004


One dead in tornadoes from Jeanne



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.





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