EF3 tornado leaves severe damage across Allendale County

A wedge tornado tore through Ulmer around 4 p.m. Tuesday, splitting trees, flipping tractor-trailers and shifting silos as it moved through Allendale County. By the next day, farmers and residents were still picking through the wreckage, while the National Weather Service said the storm left EF3 damage and may have been one of the strongest tornadoes to hit South Carolina in years.

The tornado formed quickly and cut through several communities, including Ulmer, giving people little time to react once the funnel touched down. An Allendale County farmer told WLTX he watched the tornado move directly in front of his home and said it came and went before anyone could do much about it. That rapid strike is now central to the county’s recovery effort, as residents try to secure damaged property and find out what comes next for homes, outbuildings and farm equipment.

The American Red Cross of South Carolina said its response in Allendale County included five homes destroyed, four with major damage and six with minor damage. South Carolina Emergency Management Division later said 14 homes were destroyed across Allendale, Bamberg, Clarendon and Orangeburg counties as the statewide outbreak moved through the region. The storm system spawned at least 13 tornadoes in South Carolina, underscoring how widely the damage spread beyond a single community.

Survey teams later identified EF3 damage from the Allendale County tornado, and the National Weather Service said a complete summary would come after continued surveying. Associated Press reporting said the strongest tornado in the outbreak tracked from Allendale County into Bamberg County and then Orangeburg County on a 35-mile path, with winds of at least 160 mph. The same reporting noted that the strongest recent South Carolina tornado before this outbreak was an EF4 that hit Hampton County in April 2020 and killed five people.

For Allendale County, the immediate task is recovery: clearing debris, finding shelter and getting help to families whose homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. The tornado’s violence, and the speed with which it hit Ulmer and nearby communities, has also renewed attention on warning time and storm preparedness in a county where a few minutes can determine how much is lost.