By Delayna Earley
The Island News
The National Weather Service has officially confirmed an EF0 tornado that touched down on St. Helena Island on August 6 as Tropical Storm Debby moved into Beaufort County.
The Island News has previously reported this incident as a possible tornado that happened just after 12:40 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
According to the report, a “weak, very short-lived” tornado touched down in the marsh of Harbor River just south of 1st Coleman Road.
Radar data was used to estimate that the tornado path began over a remote marsh region of 1st Coleman Road.
The first real sign of damage from the tornado was a small, uprooted tree and a few snapped tree limbs at the southern end of the 1st Coleman Road.
The tornado quickly moved northwest along the southern and western side of 1st Coleman Road where it continued to snap tree limbs and small trees.
It broke a flagpole at its base and did minor damage to the metal skirt at the base of a mobile home according to the report.
This is the second confirmed tornado in Beaufort County stemming from Tropical Storm Debby with the other one touching down on Tuesday, Aug. 6 on Sams Point Road on Lady’s Island.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
