Bennettsville To Red Springs Tornadoes
At 5:45 P.M., another F4 tornado was reported in Chesterfield County, near the community of Cash, South Carolina. This storm dissipated as it moved towards Marlboro County, SC, and was quickly followed by another F4, just to the southeast, in Marlboro County. This storm - a very large, multiple-vortex tornado, formed 6 miles (9.7 km) WNW of Bennettsville, passing through the northwest part of the city, where the Northwoods Shopping Center was leveled. After producing deaths in the rural communities of Fletcher and Lester (just north of Bennettsville), the storm moved into Scotland County, North Carolina and disspiated as it approached Laurinburg; the damage path at the state line was officially recorded at 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in width, though researchers noted a 2-mile (3.2 km) width. Ten minutes later, yet another F4 tornado was reported in Marlboro County, forming in or near the SE edge of Bennettsville, before striking Tatum and McColl, SC en route to the North Carolina state line; most structures in the two towns were destroyed. This multiple-vortex storm also crossed part of Scotland County, and then Robeson County in North Carolina, striking Maxton (where a subdivision was destroyed) and Red Springs, where every building inside the city limits was damaged or destroyed, with F1 or F2 damage seen in every building left standing. This storm barely missed the town of Lumber Bridge, before weakening as it passed through Parkton. The tornado then dissipated in southern Cumberland County, after crossing I-95 and passing southeast of Hope Mills.
This trio of storms produced a total of 11 deaths and 519 injuries; both Marlboro County storms left damage paths at (or over) 2 miles (3.2 km) in width in places, with at least 800 left homeless in Bennettsville.
Read more about this topic: 1984 Carolinas Tornado Outbreak
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