‘We were lucky’: Trees toppled, power out in York, Chester, Lancaster

Pounding rain and wind Sunday from Florence hammered York, Chester and Lancaster counties, knocking out power to thousands of customers, causing floods and downing dozens of trees and power lines.

The water that fell on top of Saturday’s rain caused trees to fall from soaked ground in Fort Mill, York and Rock Hill. Some massive trees older than a century fell, demolishing homes, businesses and blocking roads.

All three counties spent much of Sunday under a flood warning.

Officials in Lancaster and York counties remain concerned that heavy rain in North Carolina will end up in the Catawba River and other area creeks and streams, and could cause more floods in this region.

Steele Creek in Fort Mill overflowed its banks and flooded wooded areas near Pleasant Road south of Carowinds Boulevard.

Effects of the storm were region-wide, but no injuries have been reported, officials said. At one point Sunday morning about 10,000 customers were without power, although service was restored to many customers by the afternoon.

But not all were so fortunate.

In York, a huge oak tree along Liberty Street, the city’s main east-west thoroughfare, fell across the highway Sunday, smashing several power lines and pulling down utility poles, said Mayor Eddie Lee and Domenic Manera, York Fire Department chief.

The downed tree and lines knocked out power to dozens of York businesses and more than a thousand residents.

“It seemed like a war zone when I first saw the damage Sunday on Liberty Street,” Lee said. “But crews have worked all day Sunday to get the tree removed and restore power.”

The outage affected areas all the way to Alexander Love Highway. Power remained out in York in those areas late Sunday afternoon.

Forecasts before the weekend called for up to 15 inches of rain, but the three counties seemed to get substantially less as Florence weakened over time.

“We were lucky,” said Eddie Murphy, Chester County Emergency Management Director.

Officials reported more than 30 trees that fell on homes or roads in unincorporated areas of York County, about 20 down power lines and at least two fires, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted York County Emergency Management during the storm.

In Fort Mill, a real estate business on Springs Street was demolished when a tree that was more than a century old fell through the building. A gas station canopy fell during high wind and rain Saturday in Fort Mill.

Rock Hill’s damage was at its worst Sunday morning. But on Friday, five people lost their home, but escaped injury, when a massive tree demolished their Ebenezer Avenue Extension home.

Rock Hill fire and police officials responded to more than a dozen downed trees and power lines. Three people were displaced after trees that fell damaged homes past the point of being livable, fire department officials said.

Rock Hill’s wastewater treatment plant also dealt with some sewage overflowing through manholes because of massive stormwater flow through storm water pipes, said Katie Quinn, spokesperson for the city. It remains unclear how much sewage came out of the manholes, Quinn said.

Lancaster County officials reported dozens of trees and power lines down county-wide. A residential care facility in Lancaster County had to be covered with a tarp after a tree smashed through the roof, officials said. At two different times during the storm, U.S. 521, Lancaster County’s main north-south highway, was blocked by downed power lines.

The storm brought “historic rain” of about nine inches to Lancaster County, said Darren Player, emergency management director.

Chester County officials asked hundreds of residents on Friday to evacuate flood-prone areas near downtown Chester but said Sunday that the flooding caused no injuries and required no swiftwater rescues.

Andrew Dys: 803-329-4065, @AndrewDysHerald

This story was originally published September 16, 2018 at 6:13 PM.