When people think about hurricane damage, they often picture storm surge or destructive winds near the coast. But in South Carolina, some of the most common tropical impacts can come from tornadoes and falling trees — hazards that often occur well away from the center of the storm.
The center of the storm is only half the story. In South Carolina, the real danger often arrives in the outer bands—quick-spinning tornadoes and our massive tree canopy turning into a power grid's worst nightmare. Meteorologist Leslie Hudson explains why a storm doesn't need to make landfall here to be catastrophic.
Utility crews faced a massive restoration effort as tree damage left large numbers of customers without power. Hurricane Jeanne also brought tornadoes, flooding, and tree damage into South Carolina in 2004, showing that this pattern is nothing new.
After Helene, the Carolinas were among the hardest-hit states for power outages as utility crews worked around the clock to restore service following catastrophic tree and line damage.
Florence remains one of the clearest examples of how transportation can become part of a hurricane disaster. Flooding kept portions of I-95 closed for days, disrupting travel and recovery efforts well after the storm itself had moved away.