Residents across the Pee Dee got a taste Tuesday of what Floridians have suffered through for days - drenching rains, flood waters and damaging winds - in the form of several tornadoes.

“I never in my life have seen this many tornadoes all at once,” Darlington County Emergency Preparedness Director Robbin Brock said.

By late Tuesday afternoon, tornadoes or high winds had ripped through the Pee Dee, causing damage to residences, businesses and public buildings in Cheraw, Clio and Hartsville.

The weather forecast for today and Thursday called for even more rain, which was expected to add to flooding throughout the Pee Dee.

The area hit hardest was the small town of Clio in Marlboro County, where a tornado touched down Tuesday afternoon leaving in its wake extensive destruction and several displaced residents. Although certain sections of the town looked fit for disaster area status, authorities did not record any serious injuries or casualties by press time.

Touching down shortly after 2 p.m., the twister proceeded to carve out a distinctive course. It succeeded in uprooting gargantuan trees and sending them crashing through homes, blowing off roofs and blasting out windows of residences and businesses in the process.

Multi Media Coverage: Elizabeth Tyson talks with Morning News Photo Journalist John D. Russell about a tree flying into her bedroom Samuel McCall talks with WBTW.com's Matt Broughton about seeing a tornado pass through his neighborhood. View additional storm pictures submitted to WBTW News 13. View our 5 p.m. news coverage of the storms. Tips, hints and precations for dealing with water damage: Safety guidelines from North Dakota State University How to care for damaged family heirlooms from Stanford University Tips from National Geographic on saving water damaged paper products. National Library of Australia tips on saving apper based treasures. FEMA guidelines for flood recovery AARP guidelines on how to protect your home from water damage

“You can see the path that it traveled right through town,” said Marlboro County Sheriff’s Lt. Marlboro Terry. “What it left behind looks like a war zone.”

The tornado appeared to have been moving from south to north, attacking segments of the downtown area, most notably Calhoun and Main streets, and the northern side of town and its outskirts, extending along Dunbar Highway almost to the Dillon County border.

“It was crazy - the wind howling, tree limbs flying around,” Clio Town Councilman Jim Myers said of the forceful weather system.

Myers sought refuge in a tiny closet at his home after looking out a window to see the threateningly dark skies. With the tornado’s fury wrought in a matter of minutes, the councilman then rode around surveying the damage.

“We’ve certainly got a mess on our hands,” Myers said. “But, to our knowledge, no one has been killed or injured and that’s the bottom line.”

In Darlington County, tornadoes destroyed one home near Hartsville and caused significant damage to at least 14 others. Brock said at the Darlington County Council meeting Tuesday night that nine confirmed tornadoes touched down in the county, two of them between 7:30 and 8 p.m.

A tornado earlier in the day touched down near Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville.

“There was a little damage (to the hospital),” hospital supervisor Renee Feagin said. “There was a spot on the roof and a window was broken. But for the most part, the damage was minimal.”

No one at the hospital was injured.

Cheraw Primary School in Chesterfield County also felt the wrath of a tornado, Chesterfield County School District Board Chairman Jerry D. Holley said.

“I do know or I was told we had ventilation things on top (of the school) that were ripped off,” Holley said. “If it wasn’t a tornado, it was a strong wind and a lot of rain.”

A fallen tree also caused damage to the school, he said.

Holley, who was attending a luncheon less than a mile from the school and received word of the damage about 1:30 p.m., said he’d never in his 67 years of life heard rain like Tuesday’s. Students were allowed to leave school a little early, and all Chesterfield schools are closed today because of the damage caused by the storm.

Holley said he hopes the school can be repaired immediately so children can return to classes before the end of the week.

By late afternoon, tornadic activity had been reported in portions of Florence County, particularly along Interstate 95.

“One just passed by a few minutes ago,” Tamura Edwards, an employee of the Petro Station at Interstate. 95’s Exit 169, said about 6 p.m. “It started forming over near the interstate, then the funnel passed by behind us with a whole bunch of wind. It just came and went really quick.” Soon after, a tornado confirmed by the National Weather Service’s radar reportedly sent a tree crashing down onto a house along Laurel Lane, which is less than a mile from the Petro station.

In light of Tuesday’s heavy rains and forecasts of continuing rains for the next few days, emergency preparedness officials in Darlington and Florence also were becoming increasingly concerned about rising waters on Black Creek, which runs through both counties.

A forecast issued Tuesday afternoon by the National Weather Service indicates that Black Creek will rise to above 10 feet by noon Thursday before it crests at 12.6 feet Friday.

Water levels at Lynches River are rising, too, Florence County Emergency Preparedness Manager Dusty Owens said. By Tuesday afternoon, the river measured at 14 feet, which is above flood level, at Effingham.

“We’re basically going to be in a very similar situation to what we had last weekend,” Owens said. “Once again, we’re asking people who live in these areas to watch the water levels and be prepared to take the appropriate action if the water levels go back up as we’re expecting.”

Areas in Hartsville and Florence that experienced flooding during last week’s heavy rains were back underwater Tuesday.

“Same problems, same places,” said Hartsville City Manager Jim Pennington. “Anytime we have this kind of immense, heavy downfall in a very, very short period of time, it hurts us.”

During the storm’s peak, most streets in downtown Hartsville had to be barricaded because of flooding, Pennington said. However, by Tuesday afternoon, most of the water had receded and streets were open for travel again.

A few of Florence’s residential areas experienced similar problems, Florence Public Works Director Drew Griffin said.

“With this kind of rain, we usually do get some localized ponding in the street right-of-way, and again today, the most troublesome area was that Malden/Damon/Sidney Drive area,” he said. Griffin said most of the problems were alleviated by Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” he said about 5 p.m. “But we have held our crews over until the main body of the storm passes, just in case there’s ponding or pipes need to be cleaned out.”

- Staff Writers Bobby Tedder, Ted Williams, Angela Crosland and Jim Newman contributed to this report.