5:10 p.m. - Wednesday afternoon, March 28, 1984, was a time many area residents will never forget. One of the worst tornados touched down in several spots in Newberry County. The tornado left 18 dead and 250 injured in South Carolina with one dead in the town of Newberry. Six confirmed dead in Winnsboro, eight in Bennettvilles with the death count expecting to rise after clean-up and one in Fountain Inn. In Winnsboro the twister struck at about 6:30 p.m. a mile north of town. A group of trailers and tract houses were smashed with most of the deaths in a shanty row called Smalltown. 11 tornadoes touched down with the first tornado appearing in Honea Path in Anderson County and was followed by a series of ten tornadoes along a line from Anderson and Newberry counties east-northeast through Marlboro County into North Carolina. Funnels clouds were spotted in Greenwood, Greenville, Due West, and Laurens County. In Camden, 15 residents were injured. Mrs. Suzanne Mayer was at home on the Spearman Road west of Newberry when she heard the sound most often described as being like that of a train. She took her two children and hid in a hallway and all escaped injury. Their home was destroyed as was the family dairy business that Mrs. Mayer's husband, Lee, and his brother, Elliott, share. Travis Moore's poultry operation was apparently damaged as well (no info available). Bud Zipf, a local contractor and businessman, was driving his pickup truck westward on Main St. when he saw strong winds ripping awnings from a number of buildings. He stopped his truck, and dove for the floorboards. A minute later he saw that Wilson Dance Academy had been demolished and that Newberry's Community Hall had been severely damaged. Newberry County Chief Deputy Tom Summer witnessed the tornado. He had just dropped his patrol car at the Newberry shopping Center at about 5 p.m. He was on the radio to Prosperity officer Paul Whitman, when he glanced westward. He saw hail the size of golf balls, then saw the tornado form over the city. Within minutes it reached the bypass, destroying it. Summer radioed Central Communications, toll the dispatcher to sound the sirens. He tried to get to shelter but his car doors would not open - he fell to the floorboard for cover. Within minutes the tornado was over. When he sat up, he noticed a tractor trailer rig had been flipped over by the high winds. In the tractor, was John Wilson. Luckily, Mr. Wilson had cuts and bruises only. Deputy Summer received a report that a young mother whose two children were trapped in their home near the high school. Two citizens offered their assistance and they headed for their home. That is when they spotted the devastation of the tornado. They made their way to the house and found the mother outside with the children still in the house. More help came to assist the rescue of these children - they were found unharmed. The 20 block size tornado ripped through Main Street business district. Four buildings were later torn down as they were to severely damaged for repair. Those buildings are: J. J. Langford and Son furniture store, Showtime TV Rental, Little Town children's clothing store and a vacant building formerly housing Chapman-Hawkins Hardware. Another building, Cromer's Shoe Shop on Caldwell Street, was also torn down. It was also reported that that H & H. Machine Shop was demolished. Looney Dodge-Chrysler-Plymouth had losses totaling $530,000 to new and used cars (owner Carroll Looney). Mrs. Gerald Paysinger at The Market Basket said their business suffered extensive damage. The entire roof is gone and the walls are cracked. Considerable amounts of meat, dairy, ice cream and other items that needed refrigeration, were lost due to the power outage. Power was estimated to be back on by Friday with isolated areas without power for several days more but was not fully functional till Saturday afternoon. Whitaker Floor Coverings was also damaged. Paul Whitaker, owner, said he, his son, grandson and several employees were still in the building when the tornado hit but no one was injured. Ten mobile homes suffered major damage, several of them totally destroyed. Luckily no lost of life. The twister demolished St. Luke's Episcopal Church The Epting Automotive parts store caved in as the tornado passed through, trapping several people inside and killing the store's co-owner and manager, Chris Epting, from Prosperity. It was reported that 15 people were admitted to the hospital for treatment and 24 people were treated and released as of late that evening. Several homes were destroyed in the Pomaria area. The Whitney family were found Thursday morning, digging through the remains of their mobile home. Russell Whitney heard it coming, grabbed his grandmother, Ella Whitney, and brought her to the floor for safety. Mrs. Whitney suffered a broken arm and a gash to one of her legs. Jason, Brenda, Lorraine, Ricky and Patricia Whitney were either not injured or received only bruises. Othesr in the Pomaria area were not home at the time the twister struck. Mark Christmus was still at work and his wife and son were visiting her mother close by. Mrs. Christmus states they went to the basement after feeling the pressure drop and their ears started to pop. They lost quite a few antiques and family heirlooms. The downtown area did not receive any damage but A. J. Wilson reports he saw the storm coming. It was estimated that the tornado did $11 million dollars in damage. Governor Richard Riley promised that relief would be on its way soon. The S.C. National Guard troops were sent in to help with clean-up.

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