The Lowcountry Regional Airport Commission held a virtual meeting on Thursday May 14 to discuss April’s impact on the airport.

Commission member Joe Berkavich remarked that between Covid-19 and the recent tornado, there was quite a bit of physical and economical damage.

According to Tommy Rowe, manager, and Roger Medlin, operations manager for the airport, the tornado that ripped through Colleton County several weeks ago was the worst ever witnessed.

Twenty-two aircraft were totaled, several more suffered serious damage, a few had minor damage, and a few were undamaged.

The airport lost 11 rentable hangars with revenue lost at $2,385. Doors were completely blown in due to tornado pressure.

Hangar G was damaged 10%; 50% of Hangar C was damaged; Hangar B, 10%; Hangar A, 30%; and the World War II hangar, 15%.

“What is sad, and somewhat worrisome, is that some of the older hangars no longer have parts available to replace damage,” said Rowe. “The buildings were so old.” The old wooden “T” hangars were completely destroyed.

Thankfully, the terminal itself had mostly minor damage including some outside fans, lights, skylights, insulation, rocking chairs and columns. They were only out of business for two days. But several hundred feet of fencing around the airport was damaged, causing security concerns. The chain link fence located on Robertson has been approved for replacement.