Hurricane that ripped South Carolina left eye-opening statistics. Here’s what agencies found

State Climatologist Hope Mizzell, in a presentation this week to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources board, said storms like Helene bring attention for obvious reasons.

“What weather event keeps you up at night, that you think about?‘’ Mizzell said she is sometimes asked. “It would certainly be a storm like Helene’’

Mizzell went over a bundle of data that pointed out the strength of winds, the amount of rain and other impacts from Helene on the Palmetto State.

According to her presentation to the DNR board, Helene was responsible for:

• 49 deaths, making the storm more deadly than the legendary Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which was responsible for 35 deaths.
• Total rainfall of 19.69 inches in the mountains near Lake Jocassee northwest of Greenville from Sept. 26-29th. That’s the highest in the state from Helene and the third highest rainfall total from a tropical cyclone since 1956 in South Carolina, behind only hurricanes Florence and Debby. Florence produced 23.68 inches in Loris, a town near North Myrtle Beach.
• Record high river crests on the Saluda, Broad and Reedy rivers in the Upstate.The crest on the Broad at Alston was the highest at 29.48 feet.
• 21 tornadoes, the worst outbreak in the state in four years and the worst related to a hurricane since 2004.
• Leaving 1.3 million people without power at the storm’s peak. That was greater than in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida.
• Closing 912 roads and bridges.
• Destroying or causing major damage to 2,504 homes and minor to moderate damage to 3,745 homes.
• Causing 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts in many parts of the state, including Richland County, with winds reaching 100 mph near the Georgia border north of Aiken.

Mizzell said the storm had different effects on different areas, including downed trees. Trees toppled by the storm in some areas ‘’looked like a bomb went off,’’ she said.

After Helene’s heavy rains, things began to dry out, she said.

“It was dry in October and early November, and it also was very warm,’’ she said. ”It’s expected to continue.’’