Wedding & Event Venue Near Bamberg, SC.

BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Bamberg lost important pieces of its history when a tornado swept through town Tuesday.

It appears the old Bamberg City Hall may have been destroyed.

On Wednesday, crews were assessing the damage from Tuesday’s powerful storm. We know at least four downtown buildings and several local businesses have been damaged.

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Mayor Nancy Foster says the downtown buildings are more than 100 years old

“It’s been bad,” she said. “It’s just heartbreaking. All this started back to 2:30, I believe, and, and I’m getting calls that the buildings downtown are falling in the street.”

The community of 3,500 is left to pick up the heart of the city.

“Downtown’s my passion. Those buildings were from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. So, I just hate to see them go. And I’m not sure we can salvage those three buildings,” said Foster.

Officials said three different power companies were working to turn the lights back on.

Foster says crews are having to make entirely new power poles. She says it’s going to take some time before things get back to normal.

“It’s a lot of debris, a lot of turned up, a lot of trees down. And I think we did have some, I don’t know, how many houses we had that there’s damage,” said Foster.

But the impact goes beyond downtown as the city is now trying to recover from this major storm.

“It really wasn’t that bad when we left the house. But as soon as we came through, this red light, undoubtedly, that tornado was right behind us. Maybe 10 seconds when we cleared the red light. You couldn’t see the Piggly Wiggly. It was completely black,” said resident Buzzy Bunch.

The last tornado hit the outskirts of the county back in 2022, but the damage was nothing like this.

Piggly Wiggly cashier Sarah Smith said: “I have never experienced a tornado being that close to me. You know, my room window. And I heard the rolling noise. Oh, man. I was scared.”

She tried to take shelter, but it all happened so fast.

“When I looked down, the tree had fallen and it fell on the power line and my side yard and power went out. It was completely dark. So right about this moment in time without power, I don’t have any heat, or anything of that nature,” she said.

Smith’s house wasn’t damaged too badly, but others weren’t so lucky.

“You had this eerie feeling. You couldn’t see. But you can see, you could feel it. And it was crazy,” said Bunch.

His wife’s shop was destroyed.

“We’ll dive in and see what we can do, what we can salvage. I know, one side of her shop is, I can already tell this is 10 feet deep and breaks the other side. Possibly there’s something we can make salvage out of,” said Bunch.

Now they are trying to figure out what to do next.

“We’ve had some hurricanes come through. Not quite as bad for the downtown area. But Bamberg family, everybody. Everybody loves everybody. We pitch in. If a neighbor’s got a tree down, there’s neighbors right there to clean it up. You know, so I’m just blessed to be in a small town that loves everybody and pitch in and help out,” he said.

Former South Carolina Gov. and presidential candidate Nikki Haley took to Twitter when she heard about what happened to Bamberg.

She wrote, “My heart breaks hearing about the storm damage in my sweet hometown. The people are tough and resilient. I know with love and prayer they will rebuild stronger than they were before.”

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BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Nine days after an EF-2 tornado destroyed businesses, historical buildings and homes in Bamberg, the City Council voted to declare the downtown area a disaster.

Brick by brick, the city is picking up the pieces after last week’s storm.

Leaders say the vote to declare a state of emergency is the first step toward revitalization.

If you take a drive to downtown Bamberg, you’ll see road-closed signs and bricks on the ground.

South Carolina Department of Transportation brought in about eight dump trucks Thursday morning for the removal of debris and bricks, but officials say the road and the affected downtown area will remain closed until damaged structures have been removed or repaired.

“I think a fallen building is an emergency and you got bricks all over the street is an emergency,” said Mayor Nancy Foster.

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In a little more than a week, Bamberg has seen the community and multiple different cities across the state come together to help out.

“It’s been wonderful to know that people care. We’ve had people from Newbury helping and Orangeburg is helping,” she said.

The decision to declare a disaster came to speed up the process of getting things cleaned up.

Corey Ramsey, city council member, said: “When issues like this happen if we don’t do ordinances right away, it could be months before we see revitalization or something to address what has happened in downtown and even outside of our downtown.”

When it comes to getting money from FEMA, they are still working to meet requirements to be eligible for funding.

“There are certain things that have to go into play before we are able to be qualified for certain funds and certain resources. So we need individuals to make sure that they put in those claims,” said Ramsey.

In the meantime, they say if anyone in the city has damage, to call city hall to report it.

Bamberg County Council has also called a special meeting on Jan. 22 to vote on a county emergency ordinance.

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BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The state has approved the cleanup of downtown Bamberg, more than a week after a building collapsed in a tornado, spilling bricks into the street.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation said cleanup can begin, so the bricks will be removed starting Thursday.

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An emergency meeting was set Thursday night for the Bamberg City Council to declare an emergency.

Officials have no estimate yet on how much the cleanup will cost. But state officials are working with local leaders to determine whether federal assistance is available.

The storm on Jan. 9 tore through Bamberg, damaging up to 30 businesses and 20 homes, including destroying the historic downtown building as well as a house.

Residents have been busy since the EF-2 twister touched down – something that was captured in a dramatic video but not on most radar systems.

The cleanup continues, accompanied by the roar of chainsaws and leaf blowers.

Residents vow the city will come back stronger than ever.

And business owners are just as determined, including the owners of storm-damaged family-style restaurant Rusty N’ Paula’s.

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It’s important because “I feel like Rusty N’ Paula’s is the heart of Bamberg,” said owner Paula Dyches.

It’s a work in progress at Rusty N’ Paula’s. And getting a new roof is just a start.

“We have people working outside working hard to get a rood put in,” said Dyches. “As you see in the kitchen, just got some water damage. We got the roof covered. It’s not too bad. We can’t see because they don’t have lights but everything’s looking good.”

Believe it or not, Dyches was already working to renovate the place.

“We repainted, we put in new walls, we added a wall. And then, all of a sudden, a tornado come through. So we’re starting over again. But, you know, we aren’t giving up,” she said.

The only way in Dyches’ world is to keep on going.

“Like I tell everybody, it’s gonna get bigger and better,” she said.

Also confident in a rebound is Harry Talmage, whose livelihood is buying overlooked buildings and fixing them up.

His latest project was destroyed in the storm.

He’s undeterred, though.

“I’m gonna stick with Bamberg,” said Talmage.

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BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - After surveying damage from the day before, National Weather Service officials said Wednesday they determined a tornado caused the devastation that’s closed downtown Bamberg.

Tuesday’s storm has a preliminary rating of 2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale that measures such storms.

The tornado had maximum speeds of 125 mph and a path that was 300 to 400 yards wide, officials said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

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These ratings for the tornado are preliminary, based on the pattern and extent of the damage.

The tornado touched down about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday near the South Carolina Oak 2 Barrel factory, where it caused the worst damage, destroying a portion of the building.

“About 2:40, wind started picking up, getting more and more steady,” said David Hutto, a manager at the factory. “I walked out of the office, walked into our front room and seen the roof of the building across the street blow off.”

The glass started shattering in the barrel company’s windows, so Hutto went to the back of the room and ducked into the corner.

“Not many things in life scare me,” he said, but “it was the scariest thing, one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”

From there, the tornado headed for downtown Bamberg, where a brick building collapsed into the street – something that was captured in a dramatic video. At least four buildings downtown received major damage.

State emergency management crews were on the ground in Bamberg on Wednesday, helping local officials rate the damage so they can determine what kind of federal assistance is needed.

Officials said the storm knocked over about 80 trees.

BAMBERG PHOTO GALLERY:

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About 100 electric customers remained without power Wednesday afternoon, and officials expected to reduce that to 50 by the end of the day.

Water and wastewater infrastructure wasn’t damaged by the storm, officials said.

Thirteen roads remained closed Wednesday afternoon, largely because power lines had fallen across them, officials said.

Because of power outages and debris on the roads, students will finish out the week with e-learning instead of coming to school. There’s no class Monday due to the Martin Luther King holiday, then students will return to schools Tuesday.

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BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Two weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid a visit to Bamberg due to a tornado’s destruction, Bamberg is getting an update.

According to the city of Bamberg, the city did not meet the FEMA threshold.

They say they are now searching for other options.

FEMA representatives were there Jan. 24 to view the damage caused by the Jan. 9 tornado.

The twister rated a 2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale that measures tornadoes, and it caused the collapse of a historic downtown building – something that was captured in a dramatic video.

The FEMA visit came just days after city and county leaders declared a disaster.

Crews still have a ways to go before the town is cleaned up.

FEMA is still working to assess damage, but one neighbor says the recovery efforts give her a new hope

“I love where I’m at. Bamberg County is the place to be,” Ellen Inabinet said.

But it’s a place that’s badly damaged.

“Prayer has been the key answer to this thing here, what we’re going through,” she said. “I’m just grateful to be here to tell the story.”

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The storm caused a tree to fall on her house, barely missing her.

We first spoke to her soon after the storm, but she still had a positive attitude Wednesday.

“Things are really starting to come aboard at this time,” she said. “A little better for me. And hopefully for my county. Most important is for them.”

Brick by brick, Bamberg is slowly rebuilding.

Only time will tell how money can help rebuild all of ity.

And federal funding could play a role in that.

“Yes, we are going to get some help,” Inabinet said. “Somebody cares. That shows me that FEMA and the County of Bamberg cares that we’re going to receive some assistance. It’s much-needed.”

For her, it’ll take nearly $8,200 to get back to normal

“It’s an expense, but hopefully I’ll get assistance to assist me with the rest,” she said.

She still has a ways to go, but it’s no problem for her.

“I’m grateful to be here and I thank God for everything,” she said.

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