COLUMBIA, S.C. — Easter weekend this year was marked by a deadly severe weather outbreak that took place across the Deep South and into the Southeast.
There were over 700 storm reports during the outbreak, including over 130 reported tornadoes.
In South Carolina, 22 tornadoes have been surveyed by the National Weather Service, 7 of which were rated as EF-3 tornadoes.
The latest tornado surveyed was in northern Richland County, where meteorologists found damage from an EF-1 tornado.
Orangeburg County and the southern Midlands were hit the hardest during the early morning storms.
Five EF-5 tornadoes occurred in Aiken, Barnwell, Bamberg, and Orangeburg counties, along with one EF-2 tornado.
Observing EF-3 tornadoes is not commonplace here in South Carolina. The Midlands have not had an EF-3 tornado since a tornado outbreak in 2008, where an EF-3 moved through parts of Newberry County.
A tornado is considered EF-3 when winds are estimated to be between 136 and 165 miles per hour. With these types of tornadoes, well constructed homes can have severe damage or be destroyed and trees can begin to lose their bark.
Overall, nine people died in the early morning storms across South Carolina. Two of those were residents of Orangeburg County.
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This makes the tornado the second deadliest outbreak in recorded history. The deadliest was in 1984, when a tornado outbreak killed 15 people.