LAURENS, SC (FOX Carolina) – The National Weather Service said Monday afternoon they had not yet found any confirmation that tornadoes touched down in the Upstate after weekend storms.
Crews from the NWS were out surveying storm damage on Monday. Our photojournalist caught up with Trisha Palmer surveying storm damage reports in Laurens County, which saw some toppled trees in Sunday morning’s storms and was an area subject to one of several tornado warnings.
“As we were watching those storms move through, they had some rotation in them, and a few of those storms did prompt tornado warnings here across the Upstate,” Palmer said. “There where several across Georgia, there where a couple even in North Carolina.”
Palmer said she had seen some storm damage in the Upstate, but nothing that appeared to her to be indicative of a tornado touching down.
“We’ve had some, you know, there’s been some limbs down and there were a couple of trees maybe here and there that we heard about, but nothing that would indicate, that I’ve seen yet, that something did touch down,” Palmer added. “Which is good news. We do not want property damage or heaven forbid, you know, injuries or loss if life or anything.”
Four Upstate counties were under tornado warnings early Sunday morning. By 7:45 a.m., those warnings were canceled.
The Timeline
Tornado Warning continues for Laurens SC, Clinton SC, Joanna SC until 7:00 AM EDT <a href=”https://t.co/sJQN6GyEJZ”>pic.twitter.com/sJQN6GyEJZ</a>— NWS GSP (@NWSGSP) <a href=”https://twitter.com/NWSGSP/status/1315238730546900992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 11, 2020</a>
The NWS said the alerts affected Cherokee, Laurens, Union, and Spartanburg counties. Residents were urged to seek safe, stable shelter until the warning is cancelled; FOX Carolina’s weather team noted this round of severe weather contains the remnants of the former hurricane Delta now reaching the Upstate region.
The NWS later announced a continuance of the tornado warning into Union County as the storms moved north. That warning, which includes parts of Laurens and Union counties, was extended until 7:30 a.m. It was extended again until 7:45 a.m.
Laurens County was cleared of tornado threat for the 7:00 a.m. hour as of 7:18 a.m. 18 minutes later, Spartanburg County was cleared. Eventually, Cherokee and Union counties were cleared.
Tornado Warning continues for Union SC, Monarch Mill SC, Buffalo SC until 7:45 AM EDT <a href=”https://t.co/gC8TAqPzqF”>pic.twitter.com/gC8TAqPzqF</a>— NWS GSP (@NWSGSP) <a href=”https://twitter.com/NWSGSP/status/1315250112663154688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 11, 2020</a>
Later Sunday afternoon, the NWS reported trees were blown down along Springdale Drive near Clinton and along Evelyn Street and N. Harper Street near Laurens. They were, however, quickly cleared.
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