Still remember that day. I was a freshman in college. Rained in the morning and then sun came out. When I came out of class after lunch, I remember walking across campus thinking “why is so hot and why am I sweating so much?” Had no idea what was on the way. Guys in the room next door to me in the dorm were from Marlboro County. Left as soon as they got word and went home to help. Had this outbreak happened in a more populated area, hundreds would have died.
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The worst tornado outbreak in Carolina History unfolded 41 years ago today. 24 tornadoes, 7 of which were EF-4, raced across the Carolinas at 65 mph. At the end of the 7 hour outbreak, 57 had been killed and over 1200 injured. Marlboro County took a devastating hit with 2 EF-4 tornadoes striking in less than an hour. One of those grew to 2.5 miles wide and was on the ground for 45 miles. The picture of the beam impaled in the ground below remains in Bennettsville as a monument to the outbreak.
Jeffrey Bryant