March 17, 2008

The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-0 Tornado originated in northern McDuffie County and moved eastward across northern Columbia County Saturday evening. The map attached to this story shows all of the tornado paths and the strength of the numerous tornadoes spawned Saturday evening as they moved through eastern Georgia and into South Carolina.

We in Columbia County had at least a thousand trees downed and some mobile homes destroyed by the tornado in northern Columbia County, along with damaging wind and hail elsewhere in the County.

An EF-0 tornado produces wind speeds from 65 to 86 mph.

This brings the total number of documented tornadoes in Columbia County to five. All but one of these tornadoes occurred in the Appling area.

03/10/1875 Estimated F-5
04/05/1957 F-2
05/08/1978 F-2
02/22/2003 F-2
03/15/2008 EF-0

We are currently working with the National Resource Conservation Service office to identify and map the exact path through our wooded areas to determine if creeks or streams in those areas are blocked by the fallen trees…potentially increasing the risk for flooding with future heavy rainfall. If so, there is funding available through the Emergency Watershed Program to help remove those trees from waterways.