ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Between the hours of 9:30 and 10:30 on Tuesday night, Orangeburg experienced severe storms moving throughout the area, including a microburst that caused damage to several buildings in downtown.
For safety concerns, city officials closed off Broughton Street and flew drones over after pieces of the roof, bricks, metal siding and glass were scattered through the street.
Billy Staley is the Director of Orangeburg County Emergency Services. He called in the National Weather Service, which declared the incident a microburst.
“The National Weather Service came in this morning and confirmed that it was a microburst. It's not a tornado, but a microburst," Staley said. "It came down somewhere in the vicinity of Broughton and Middleton Street.”
Clean up crews have begun to clear the roadway of debris and fallen materials.
Jackie Elmore, who owns Exotic Styling Salon on Broughton Street, says she is grateful to not have been affected, considering her salon’s proximity to the microburst.
“Amazing that it’s just a few feet away from our business but God saw fit that nothing happened," said Elmore. "He kept us in tact. We can still work today and continue with our clients that we have scheduled today, so that’s why I love me some God. He is awesome.”
Downtown wasn’t the only place affected by the weather. A home on Sherwood Drive had a tree fall on it.
Kenneth Ferry has lived in his home for over 20 years and said he has never had anything like this happen to him before.
“The wife and I were sitting watching television, we noticed the weather was getting a little cloudy and after that the rain got up,” said Ferry. “Then we heard a little hail and then we heard a big boom and the tree fell.”
Ferry warns other homeowners to remove trees that are located close to their homes.
“Get rid of those trees, get rid of them,” said Ferry. “Same reason, wind storm, whatever happened last night, close enough to the house it could fall on it.”
Officials say Broughton Street in downtown Orangeburg will be closed until Thursday afternoon but Staley is reminding the public to always have a safety plan in place.
“Just remember anytime we have a thunderstorm, we could have a severe wind event like this,” said Staley. “And we can have damage like this, so just be safe and always have a plan.”
The city is still trying to get an estimate on how much damage was done. Emergency Services will continue to go around town and secure lights or trees affected by the storm.