BAMBERG, S.C. — Just 24 hours after a tornado tore through Bamberg County, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, the town of Bamberg is grappling with the aftermath.
As residents picked up the pieces, key agencies including the National Weather Service held a press conference to shed light on the extent of the devastation."
During the press conference, John Quagliariello from the National Weather Service in Columbia revealed, "We have determined a tornado did indeed touch down here in the Bamburg area, probably touched down around 2:45 P.M, yesterday afternoon. Wind speeds appeared to be right around 125 mph for maximum wind speeds that makes it an EF-2 tornado".
Quagliariello described the tornado as 300-400 yards wide based on the preliminary survey.
The damage is extensive, affecting the entire county.
The State Department of Transportation is actively working to reopen roads impacted by the disaster.
Justin Powell, Chief Operating Officer of SCDOT, stated, "Right now we have about 13 roads closed due mainly to power lines in the road. We are working with our friends in the utility to get that cleaned up and resolved,".
Greg Griffin of the Bamberg Board of Public emphasized ongoing efforts to restore power, "Last evening we had around 600 customers out of service, right now that number is right at 100, the remaining customer pick up will take place to the south of me,".
"It's been kinda sad to see buildings from the late 1800s destroyed. But God has another plan so we will keep going, pick up, and start over," Mayor Nancy Foster says.
Lisa Stokes, a Bamberg lifelong resident, expressed her disbelief, saying, "I had no idea it would be anything like this,".
Adding, "When I woke up around 3-4 this morning I went straight to social media, and I couldn't believe some of the pictures, news coverage that had taken place. I was certainly devastated like so many other people,".
As metal lay tangled on the ground and the old city hall came crashing down, Mayor Foster says they were in the process of trying to revitalize downtown.
"We were actually targeting downtown. They had hired retail strategists to come to work with us to restore buildings to help us get that done and work with the owners and to help us recruit mom-and-pop businesses, is what we that's what we're looking for down here, we just have to regroup and keep going," Foster says.
Even though we're looking at what we're looking at, I think it's one of the most charming downtown areas in the world, and I see a vision for what this will look like in a couple of years," Stokes adds.
Mayor Foster emphasizes the need for thorough inspections before reconstruction efforts begin.