Hundreds lose power after storms, but no tornadoes, hit Chester, Lancaster, York counties
Some trees were down in Chester and Lancaster counties but no tornadoes were reported after heavy thunderstorms swept through upstate South Carolina late Thursday afternoon, officials said.
About 570 customers in Chester County and another 150-plus customers in Lancaster County were without power around 6:45 p.m., according to the Duke Energy outage map.
A tornado warning for Chester County and severe thunderstorm warnings for Chester and Lancaster counties were issued by the National Weather Service Thursday that ran from 4:45 p.m to 6:30 p.m.
Heavy rain pounded Chester, Lancaster, and York counties until around 6:30 p.m., officials said.
Ed Darby of Chester County Emergency Management and Darren Player of Lancaster County Emergency Management each said there were trees and power lines down but no reports of tornadoes.
“We had straight-line winds, heavy winds that put some trees down on some roads but have not had any tornadoes to my knowledge,” Player said.
Player said pea-sized hail fell in Lancaster County.
Max Dorsey, Chester County Sheriff, said deputies responded to some car wrecks including one that overturned, but there was not any loss of life. Dorsey said he had extra deputies and 911 dispatchers working when severe weather was forecast and imminent.
Chester County’s Law Enforcement Center, which houses the county jail and 911 center, lost power for about five minutes but no problems were reported, Dorsey said.
The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning at 4:55 p.m. for most of Chester County from the Broad River to Interstate 77, according to a National Weather Service bulletin and social media postings.
Tornado sirens were activated in Chester County. Richburg Fire-Rescue posted on Facebook the situation is “serious” and urged people to be aware of approaching weather.
A tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or indicated by weather radar, according to the York County Office of Emergency Management.
The tornado warning expired at 5:45 p.m.
At 5:45 p.m., weather service officials issued a severe thunderstorm warning for much of middle and eastern Chester County, including most of Interstate 77 through Great Falls. That warning expired at 6:30 p.m.
The weather service out of Columbia at around 5:50 p.m. issued a severe thunderstorm warning for almost of of Lancaster County from the Catawba River at the border of York and Chester counties east through Chesterfield County. That warning expired after 6:30 p.m.
A separate tornado warning was issued for Cherokee County, S.C. and Cleveland County, N.C. adjacent to western York County, according to the weather service.
Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management Director, said as of 6:30 p.m. no damage was reported in York County.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:15 PM.
