More thunderstorms could be on their way for the Lakelands and Upstate, following storms early this morning that carried damaging winds and left more than 1,000 people without power in Greenwood County.
A line of potentially strong to severe thunderstorms could cross the Upstate and Lakelands this afternoon at about 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
“Damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat with these thunderstorms, but large hail and even an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out,” said a hazardous weather outlook posted at 11:10 a.m. “Brief, heavy downpours and frequent lightning will accompany any thunderstorms as well.”
This comes following storms that hit the Greenwood area in the early morning hours. County Emergency Management Coordinator George McKinney said those storms downed trees from Ware Shoals to Troy, and have left crews responding to calls of trees down on houses in Greenwood and Ninety Six.
A Greenwood County official told the National Weather Service at 3:04 a.m. that trees were down across the county, including three that fell on houses, and a number of roads were blocked and power lines were down. The service also received a report at 2:35 a.m. from Abbeville County that trees and power lines were down along Old Calohoun Falls Road and in other areas of the county.
Fallen trees have blocked more roads in Greenwood County, including two that the state Department of Transportation are working to clear, though McKinney was not at his office and couldn’t immediately remember which roads those were. A team from Aiken is helping clear trees fallen on buildings.
Despite working diligently to clear debris since Thursday, McKinney said first responders are gearing up yet again to tackle any damage that may accompany the storms that might hit at about 3 p.m.
“We’re trying to give our firefighters a rest for right now,” he said. “Hopefully we won’t need them later.”
The Duke Energy outage map listed 1,806 customers without power as of 1 p.m., and while crews are assessing damage, there isn’t an estimated time they’ll have power back up. Though the outages were spread throughout the county, more than 500 of the customers in the dark were located around Whitehall Road near Promised Land.
The map showed about 300 of Duke’s Abbeville County customers were without power as well. McCormick County had about 400 without power, mostly among Dominion Energy customers, while Saluda County had close to 300 in the dark among three power providers.
Contact staff writer Damian Dominguez at 864-634-7548 or follow on twitter @IJDDOMINGUEZ.
