F2 Tornado — Laurens, South Carolina

2005-01-13 · near Laurens, Laurens, South Carolina

Event narrative

This tornado touched down in the Ekom Community southwest of the city of Laurens, where it damaged a couple of mobile homes. The tornado then tracked northeast to the area around Laurens High School, where some small sheds were destroyed and a portion of the roof removed from a house. At the high school, the roof of a brick concession facility was blown off. Just east of the school, a mobile home was destroyed and a building received significant roof damage. The tornado continued northeast toward the Whelon Rd area, uprooting and snapping off several large trees. A small, frame guest house was damaged and a tractor overturned in this area. The tornado continued to snap and uproot large trees as it moved toward Welcome Church Rd, where 4 mobile homes were damaged and a frame home received minor roof damage. The damage path continued northeast, but ended about 200 yards north of highway 14. After briefly lifting, the tornado struck a tire distribution center just north of the highway 221 I-385 exchange. The roof of a building at the plant was damaged, which sparked a large fire in the building, burning it to the ground. An employee at the plant received minor injuries when debris fell on him. The tornado dissipated near highway 221 north of Laurens.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.4000, -82.1333)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5453693. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.