Weather News
High school hit by a tornado that left a trail of wreckage, no classes for days
The damage at a Midlands high school Saturday night was caused by a tornado, the National Weather Service confirmed.
North Central High School in Kershaw County was severely damaged by the tornado, which was a part of a series of storms rumbling through the Midlands, according to Al Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Columbia.
What hit the high school at about 10:30 p.m. was confirmed to be an EF-2 tornado, with wind speeds of 130 mph, Moore said Sunday.
Scenes of the wreckage caused at the storm-damaged high school were shared on Facebook by the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.
It shows a trail of damage that smashed school buses into each other, blew out windows, ripped the ceiling of portions of a building on the campus and left debris strewn inside and outside of the school.
Some of the stands at the school’s football stadium were collapsed by the storm, pictures show.
“The tornado was restricted in a path of half a mile and really centered on the high school,” Moore said. “It spun right down in that area.”
In spite of all of the damage, no injuries were reported, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We are very thankful this storm did not hit while our children were in school,” the sheriff’s office said. “Thank God we had no weather related injuries in Kershaw County from last night.”
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called it a blessing that no one was hurt by such a devastating storm.
“It’s a blessing that no one was on the North Central High campus last night,” McMaster said on Twitter. “We can replace buildings and buses but not lives.”
The governor said his office has been in contact with the school’s principal David Branham, school district superintendent Dr. Shane Robbins, and South Carolina state senator Vincent Sheheen who represents Kershaw County. McMaster tweeted he has offered them assistance in the recovery.
On Monday, the South Carolina State Guard sent troops to the high school to help “protect life and property,” LTC Scott Malyerck said in a news release.
The school is closed for the time being, as the damage is assessed, the sheriff’s office said.
Information on when the school will reopen was not available, but students definitely will be out for Monday and Tuesday, according to the school district.
“We’ve had significant damage to the school structure, the football stadium and to the buses,” Kershaw County School District Executive Director for Community Relations Mary Anne Byrd said in a video shared on the district’s Facebook page. “We will be making plans with local and state officials to move forward.”
Byrd said the school district will share the plans for staff and students as soon as they are confirmed.
It won’t be as simple as taking the students to another school, as many buses that might be used suffered significant damage, according to Byrd.
“We’re blessed that this did not occur at a different time of day,” Byrd said. “It is devastation, it’s heartbreaking. But the Knight family will survive and thrive.”
Downed trees, utility poles and power lines were reported in Richland, Lexington, Kershaw, Newberry, Sumter, Fairfield, Lancaster, Aiken, Bamberg, Calhoun, Chesterfield, and Clarendon counties, Moore said.
NWS survey teams are also in Fairfield and Newberry counties to see if the storms that hit those areas were also tornadoes.
A downed tree blocked part of Interstate 77 in Fairfield County, and another tree fell on a house in Newberry, according to Moore.
Severe storms have moved across the Southeast U.S. and were blamed in the deaths of at least 11 people, including two first responders, the Associated Press reported.
Severe thunderstorms are possible in the Columbia area into the early part of the week, as the cold front that moved into the area that triggered Saturday’s extreme weather stalled between the Central Midlands and South Carolina’s coast, Moore said.
But the forecast indicates these storms will be isolated and not as strong as Saturday night’s storms, according to Moore.
“The most unsafe conditions will be in the afternoon hours, when it’s warmer,” Moore said of the storms that are possible through Tuesday morning. “We’re not expecting a new development of (tornadoes).”
Even after the chance of hazardous weather is predicted to pass, rain is still very likely for the beginning of this week. The forecast calls for 70 percent chance of rain Monday and remaining at 40 percent for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the NWS.
Temperatures are also expected to remain warm during that stretch, with possible highs in the 70s every day to Thursday.
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