The National Weather Service confirmed that a severe thunderstorm spawned a tornado Friday afternoon, damaging multiple Savannah-Chatham schools and closing Oatland Island indefinitely.
Ron Morales of the NWS in Charleston said the tree damage in the area was consistent with an EF-1. Tornadoes with that designation have winds between 86 and 110 mph. The scale goes from EF-0, with winds from 65-85 mph, and EF-5, which has winds higher than 200 mph.
“We came out this afternoon to survey the area that was damaged by the tornado yesterday afternoon,” Morales said. “The damage seemed to be consistent with wind speeds of roughly 95 to 105 miles per hour which is what we call an EF-1 scale on the tornado scale.”
The tornado originated north of the Oatland Island Wildlife Center and made its way southeast for about two miles ending near Islands High School, according to officials. No injuries were reported.
“It wasn’t necessarily a continuous line of destruction,” Morales said. “There were times where it was very bad like at Oatland Island and in the community and then there were times where it was a bit more sporadic.”
Oatland Island Wildlife Center suffered the most extensive damage during the severe weather, according to officials.
The Oatland Island Wildlife Center sustained downed trees and power lines that blocked the roadway into the facility and kept 19 staff members and 21 visitors on the island until approximately 7:30 p.m. when county crews could get the road cleared. All were kept safe in the main building and there are no damages to the facilities. The animal enclosures did sustain damage but all animals were secured, said Heather Merbs, Oatland Island Wildlife Center director.
“There was extensive damage from one end of the island to the other,” she said. “Almost every animal habitat has been affected from one degree to another. Getting around the property is pretty difficult. We were tremendously affected and the damage was worse than the damage from hurricanes Matthew or Irma.”
Due to that and damage to some fencing at the facility, Oatland Island will be closed indefinitely.
Around 4 p.m. Friday school district officials received a call from campus police that Marshpoint Elementary was damaged during severe weather.
Part of the school’s roof was torn off and several cars were damaged. The school parking lot was littered with palm trees, broken glass and debris. Neighboring Coastal Middle School suffered a few downed trees and exterior lights but no facility damage. Islands High School sustained damage to the school athletic fields, mainly to the fence line and bleachers.
The storm apparently came down from Jasper and Beaufort, S.C. and intersected in Chatham County, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS had not issued any watches or warnings for Chatham County, therefore the sirens were not activated. Officials say the tornado was an unusual occurrence given Friday’s weather conditions.
“This was a particularly difficult situation,” Morales said. “The conditions weren’t there to produce tornados–or that is what we thought. This was a situation where multiple boundaries came together very quickly and actually developed a tornado differently than what you might think. This was not your classic “Kansas” type of tornado that comes from the top down. This likely developed from the bottom up similarly to waterspout–what we call a landspout. They can get strong. They usually happen very quickly somewhere of six to eight minutes.”
The weather incident lasted eight minutes, according to the NWS.
A full damage assessment and recovery plan is in progress for Marshpoint, and parents will receive further information on school opening through notification call and email over the weekend, school district officials said.
“Safety is first and it is paramount for us. We have work to do,” said Kurt Hetager, chief of public affairs and administrative services office for the school system. “We have to do a complete and thorough assessment of the structure. We are working diligently to come up with a timeline for repairs for this school. We have about 800 students and about 100 staff, so they are our primary focus. Their safety is critical for us as we work to have a smooth opening.”
Residents also suffered damage in the Grays Subdivision. County public works will begin removing storm debris from public right-of-way on Monday. Regular dry trash service will remain on schedule, said county spokeswoman Abby Murphy.
by Brittini Ray (2018, July 28) Savannah Now
