Tornadoes confirmed in the Upstate

The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg has confirmed a tornado did touchdown in Pickens County on Sunday, Oct. 8. The path is a combination of a three-mile long nearly continuous track and three separate brief touchdowns. The initial tornado touchdown occurred at Maxey Drive in Norris, where several trees were snapped or uprooted and at least one home sustained roof damage. Then the tornado continued toward Robinson Bridge Road, where one brick home had front-wall and total-roof failure and two mobile homes were completely destroyed. Maximum winds at this time were estimated to be 130mph. The nearly continuous track ended near Liberty Highway and Tammy Drive, where multiple trees were snapped or uprooted and at least one outbuilding was destroyed. Also, mobile homes sustained roof and underpinning damage. The width of the tornado was approximately 200-300 yards throughout the nearly continuous path. Thereafter, three additional, brief touchdowns occurred on on Belle Shoals Road, Allgood Bridge Road, and Shady Grove Road, respectively. The damage at each touchdown mostly consisted of snapped and uprooted trees. In summary, the National Weather Service reports that a total of 20 homes, both stick-built and mobile, sustained structural damage with five homes experiencing major damage. Several outbuildings and sheds were damaged or destroyed. A communications tower was also damaged. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted as well. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or injuries reported.