May 1989 tornado outbreak
The SC-NC-VA outbreak (tornadoes were also reported in Georgia) occurred on May 5, 1989. The outbreak spawned 17 tornadoes in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and was responsible for a combined total of $169 million dollars in damage in the four states. It also caused 7 deaths and 168 injuries.
Georgia and South Carolina
The first tornadoes of this outbreak were reported between 1 and 2 P.M. near Gainesville, Georgia and Toccoa, Georgia. During the mid-afternoon, severe storms began moving northeast into the northwest corner of South Carolina, spawning additional tornadoes in Oconee County.
The first violent tornadoes (F3 or F4 intensity - see Fujita scale) of the outbreak were reported shortly thereafter, north and northeast of Spartanburg and Gaffney, South Carolina. These tornadoes crossed into North Carolina, entering Rutherford County, NC and causing severe damage in Boiling Springs, NC.
North Carolina and Virginia
Other F4 tornadoes soon formed just to the north (on a path from northern Cleveland County to southwest of Hickory), and also in Union County, southeast of Charlotte. The Cleveland-Lincoln-Catawba tornado caused 30 injuries and $20 million in property damage in the Belwood community, before then causing 4 fatalities and 19 additional injuries in the Vale community in northwestern Lincoln County. Weaker tornadoes were noted in the NC foothills near Lenoir, and the Union County supercell later spawned F1 tornadoes in nearby Anson and Stanly counties.
Later in the afternoon, a strong F3 tornado produced $25 million in damage on a southwest-to-northeast path through the city of Winston-Salem. Damage from this storm was visible along Business I-40 and US 421 in southwest Winston-Salem, and the historic Old Salem area was also hard hit. In adjacent Forsyth County, NC, two other tornadoes were confirmed between 5:30 and 6:15 P.M. At about the same time, a series of weaker and short-lived tornadoes nonetheless also managed to produce $27.5 million in damage in northern Durham and southwest Granville counties.
Later in the evening, the last two tornadoes of the outbreak produced minor damage in Louisa County, between Richmond and Charlottesville.
Ultimate toll
Large hail and wind damage reports were widespread - golf-ball sized hail was recorded near Columbia, South Carolina and Monroe, North Carolina, with severe wind reports from over 100 counties from Georgia to Maryland. Some form of storm damage was noted in almost every North Carolina county between I-95 and the Blue Ridge Mountains.