Weather service confirms tornado killed 4,000+ turkeys on SC farm near Clover
A tornado touched down in York County Monday, killing thousands of turkeys on a farm, National Weather Service officials confirmed Wednesday.
The winds reached 110 MPH in an EF-1 tornado that had a swath of 70 yards in width that flattened barns and caused thousands of dollars in damage and killed more than 4,000 turkeys on the Biggers farm, weather service officials said after touring the farm Wednesday.
An EF-1 is second-lowest on the scale of tornado measurement but the winds were strong enough to knock down trees in nearby woods and carry one of the barn roofs hundreds of yards, weather officials said.
One farm building was completely destroyed, and two more were damaged. The farm had about 24,000 turkeys before more than 4,000 were killed in the buildings that were damaged, officials said.
The damage to the Biggers farm was along S.C. 55 near Canaan Church Road.
The tornado touched down just minutes after a tornado warning was issued for York County by the National Weather Service around 12:45 p.m. Monday. York County tornado warning sirens were activated around 12:50 p.m.
Members of the Biggers family that own the farm told WBTV they heard the sirens, then saw the storm clouds before the barns were damaged.
The area is south of the North Carolina state line, west of Clover.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes and weather service officials said no one was hurt.
Video and pictures posted on the National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg office Twitter account show the damage at the farm near Clover.
WCNC-TV meteorologist Brad Panovich reported on Twitter Tuesday that the damage may have been a tornado but he did not confirm there was a tornado.
Tuesday had storms again, power out
More than 2,700 customers in York County lost power for periods of time Tuesday afternoon, after a second set of storms passed through Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, and York, officials said.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
