‘It’s about helping the community’: Recovery continues for Langley community after tornado
LANGLEY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The recovery begins for those in the hard hit areas around Augusta Road at Dunbar Street, New Holland Road and Farmfield Road in Aiken County.
An EF-1 tornado has been confirmed to have touched down in Langley on Monday, ripping siding and doors from the nearby Langley Fire Department and the water works building.
The tornado then swept through a nearby neighborhood, causing a lot of damage in a relatively small area.
People in the area say it happened so fast.
After the tornado ripped so many things apart in Langley, many people have stepped up to help each other out, showing that the one thing that can’t be ripped apart is their tight-knit community.
Tornado brings damage, chaos to Langley, other parts of Aiken County
The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF1 tornado hit Langley Monday morning, bringing damage to the Langley Fire Department building and other parts of Aiken County.
Picking up what’s left, but doing it together.
“Just now recovering from Helene, but here we are,” said Bubba Moyer.
And there still is lots of damage like fallen trees, damaged power lines, homes, cars and buildings.
We spoke with Commissioner Dorothy Campbell, who happens to live on the street where the tornado hit.
She says she was up most of the night and getting calls from loved ones checking in to make sure she was okay.
Strong storms produce major flooding in Allendale, trapping some in their homes
We made our way through several counties, including Barnwell, Bamberg and Allendale, all of which have areas that are underwater.
She’s lived in this community her entire life and says she’s never seen it look like this.
Her neighbor’s carport blew into her back yard, she has some roof damage, and a tree fell on her son’s car — and she’s not the only one, but she says she’s lucky — they all are.
Even through these hard times, this neighborhood truly is pulling through together.
“Usually I don’t wake up, but I just kept laying there and the wind was blowing real hard, and by that time I hear tin hitting everything, that’s when I got scared, but I just kept on laying there,” Campbell recalls. “Clem called me, momma you alright? Yep. Lewis, my brother called me. You alright, Doc. I said, yep. You know, I figure if everybody is alright, that’s all that matters.”
Commissioner Campbell says right now — the main focus is helping everyone rebuild and get back on their feet, but she says she has no doubt that they’ll be okay.
Track road closures in South Carolina
The South Carolina Department of Transportation has announced road closures across the state due to flooding from Monday’s storms.
“We’re just riding up through the neighborhood while we’ve got the equipment, see if we can help people get some big trees up or take care of some roofing damage they got,” said Moyer.
So crews such as electricians, tree service companies, roofing companies and internet providers all came out to help–some even doing it for free.
“It ain’t about the money,” said Wayne Craig of Craig’s Tree Service. “It’s about helping the community at times like this. The money will come later in life. These people got very much damage as we can see, and it tore the roof off here, and we’re just cleaning up, and we still have a part over there hanging over the house. It’s just mostly coming out, pulling together to help the community.”
Because whether it’s a company or neighbors helping neighbors, it’s important to step up and help.
“This area has been known to get a bad rep,” Moyer said. “When stuff like this happens out here, good people give back.”
Cedar Creek Road floods again after heavy rain
Flooding on Cedar Creek Road may look really bad to some of you at home, but this is not shocking to families who live on the Aiken County road.
“Right when we get over one, here comes another one, and we’re not talking about people that can afford really to have this done. So that’s one reason I am donating the time to the community, because a lot of these are led by people,” Craig explains. “They don’t have the money, they just went through a disaster, and spent all the money they had. Some of them still have roofs off of the house. So, it’s about giving back. You’ve got to have a good heart at times like these.”
“We don’t have much bad weather. I mean we had that here a few months ago. But I never thought last night when I went to bed, I’d wake up to a tornado this morning, but the lord protected us all,” Campbell says.
The damage is significant for many — but the most important thing is that everyone is safe and there were no injuries.
Even though it could take some time to get everything cleaned up and back to normal, community say they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure everyone gets the help they need.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
