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EF2 tornado in Kershaw County, South Carolina

Tornado March 15, 2008 · Kershaw County, South Carolina

EF2
Rating
6.9 mi
Path length
1,230 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,230 yards (0.70 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF2 tornado went through the Elgin community doing heavy damage to many homes including partial to total roofs gone and destroying 4 mobile homes. None of the mobiles were tied down and crumbled from rolling. Numerous trees and powerlines were down and there were 2 injuries.

The wider storm

Seven supercells tracked across our South Carolina County Warning Area and produced many long-lived tornadoes that did significant damage. Over 85 homes were destroyed, around 400 had moderate damage, and estimates for the total devastation were around 40 million dollars.

Began near Elgin (34.1800, -80.8300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

19 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Newberry CountyEF3 Bamberg CountyEF2 Kershaw CountyEF2 Saluda CountyEF2 Lexington CountyEF2 Calhoun CountyEF2 Aiken CountyEF2 Lee CountyEF1 McCormick CountyEF1 Chesterfield CountyEF1 Richland CountyEF1 Clarendon CountyEF1 Bamberg CountyEF1 Kershaw CountyEF0 Fairfield CountyEF0 Kershaw CountyEF0 Aiken CountyEF0 Edgefield CountyEF0 Barnwell County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 75986. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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