Tree falls on car with driver inside, power outages reported in York, Chester, Lancaster

As the remnants of Hurricane Irma pass over South Carolina, local emergency officials say they are getting calls of downed power lines and tree limbs and some electrical outages.

A man was driving his car near the intersection on Clebourne Street, near the intersection of Grier Street, in Fort Mill Monday evening when a tree came down across the hood, said Maj. Bryan Zachary, public information officer for the Fort Mill Police Department. No serious injuries were reported in that incident, Zachary said.

Irma, downgraded to a tropical storm Monday morning, was expected to move northwest across southwest Georgia and Alabama, eventually crossing into western Tennessee.

Rain moved into the Rock Hill area Monday morning, and was expected to intensify during the day. Temperatures in the mid 60s and a northeast breeze of 10-20 mph made for a raw day.

Callers reported high wind, heavy rain and downed power lines and trees Monday afternoon in the Fort Lawn, Great Falls and Edgemoor areas of Chester County, said Ed Darby, Chester County Emergency Management deputy director.

Local fire departments were responding Monday afternoon to those calls, including one report of a power line that fell on a Fort Lawn house, Darby said.

In York County, a transformer blew out Monday afternoon at the corner of Cherry Road and Myrtle Drive in Rock Hill, according to York County emergency management personnel. The Rock Hill Fire Department responded.

Traffic lights were out early Monday evening on Cherry Road, with police directing traffic.

Around 5 p.m. Monday, the City of Rock Hill reported a power outage at the Charlotte Avenue substation, affecting about 3,000 customers. The city tweeted that the outages were concentrated along the Cherry Road corridor and nearby streets.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, both Duke Energy and York Electric Cooperative reported scattered power outages in York, Lancaster and Chester counties. Real-time updates are available on the Duke Energy and York Electric’s Outage maps.

Also Monday evening, York Electric had about 1,000 people lose power, including in the Hickory Grove and Rock Hill areas, said Marc Howie, vice president of community development. Around 8 p.m., 50 people were without power, Howie said.

Areas of Lancaster County saw downed trees and power lines Monday afternoon as well, said Darren Player, director of Lancaster County Emergency Management.

“We have downed trees all over the county right now,” Player said.

Check back for updates.

This story was originally published September 11, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Tree falls on car with driver inside, power outages reported in York, Chester, Lancaster."