Thousands lose power, trees down as Zeta brings heavy wind and rain to York County
Roads were blocked by downed trees and thousands of people lost power as powerful winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Zeta lashed the York County area.
York County was under a tropical storm warning with wind gusts of 40 mph or more expected, according to the National Weather Service.
More than 7,000 Duke Energy customers in York, Chester and Lancaster counties were reported to be without power Thursday around 2:30 p.m., according to the company’s outage map.
More than 3,000 of those outages were near York after trees fell north and west of downtown. Part of Congress Street in York, north of downtown between Madison and Kings Mountain streets, was blocked after a tree fell, York Police Department officials said. Liberty Street near downtown also was blocked near Springdale Road in York.
Nearly 3,000 more outages were reported between York and Rock Hill, Duke’s map showed.
York Electric Cooperative reported more than 1,100 outages Thursday morning near York and Rock Hill, according to its outage map. By afternoon, less than 150 customers were without service, according to the map.
About 3,000 customers in the city of Rock Hill lost power around 9:30 a.m. after trees fell on lines, said Katie Quinn, city spokeswoman. By 3 p.m., less than 50 customers were without service, according to city’s outage map.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes said trees were down throughout the county, but no other damage had been reported.
York County Sheriff’s Office deputies said traffic lights were out throughout the county through early afternoon, and urged caution for drivers.
Another tree was reported to be in the road on U.S. 321, south of York near Plaxco Road, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.
Schools in Fort Mill, York, Clover and Chester were closed because of high winds.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
