At least one tornado touched down in Beaufort County during Tropical Storm Elsa
At least one tornado was responsible for destruction in Port Royal and Parris Island during Tropical Storm Elsa, according to a new report from the National Weather Service in Charleston.
According to the report, the tornado started around 11:44 p.m. Wednesday on the southern tip of Parris Island, “directly adjacent the old Page Field runway complex,” where it snapped softwood and pine trees.
Officials estimate that the tornado’s strongest winds were traveling at 97 mph, making it an EF1 storm.
This was “likely the same storm that moved into Port Royal several minutes later,” the report read. “However, the ground survey team could not confirm a continuous path from Parris Island, northward to the Port Royal area.”
The Port Royal tornado touched down at 11:50 p.m. “near 11th street, between Paris and London Avenues.” It snapped trees, one of which fell on a home. Then it moved to 14th and 15th streets.
“Many hardwood trees and large limbs were snapped in this area, which also took down some powerlines along Paris Avenue,” the report read. “The tornado then moved across the southern portion of Paris Avenue West, snapping more trees and limbs, some falling on a few homes/buildings.”
It ended just north of the intersection of Ribaut and Royal Palms roads at 11:52 p.m. Officials estimate that the tornado’s strongest winds were traveling at 95 mph.
The National Weather Service did not confirm a tornado on Daufuskie Island, where residents saw the tops of trees snapped off 20 to 30 feet from the ground.
The storm had impacts all over Beaufort County, though few felt it as keenly as Port Royal. According to data from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the county had:
- 74 trees felled
- 10 calls for downed electrical lines/wires
- 4 traffic lights out
- 5 structures damaged
- 5 calls because of flooding
Around 20,000 Palmetto Electric customers lost power at the height of the storm, along with at least 2,100 Dominion Energy customers in Beaufort and Bluffton.
This story was originally published July 10, 2021 at 9:33 AM.