14,000+ without power, trees down in roads as storm hits Rock Hill, York, Lancaster SC
.jpg "A tree fell on a house on Midvale Avenue in Rock Hill, S.C. Friday in a storm. There were no injuries. Photo from Rock Hill Fire Department.")
About 14,000 customers in York County and Lancaster County lost power Friday afternoon as storm ripped Upstate South Carolina, officials said.
Law enforcement and emergency officials reported trees were down across roads including U.S. 321 south of York.
Duke Energy reported around 3,000 customers without power in and near the city of York in South Carolina around 4 p.m., according to the utility’s outage map.
Outages in Lancaster County were around 5,000, Duke’s map showed.
York Electric Cooperative reported around 4,000 outages that ranged from western York County east to near Rock Hill, the utility’s outage map showed. Marc Howie, a cooperative vice-president, told The Herald most of the outages were near York and western York County.
Rock Hill city utilities showed more than 1,800 outages.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes said there were reports to county officials of downed trees, lightning strikes, and utility service affected.
York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said deputies were responding to trees blocking roads outside York on U.S. 321, S.C. 5, and California Street.
The sheriff’s office posted on social media that several areas where trees were down and traffic were affected.
Deputies also were responding with fire departments and other officials to trees down on McConnells Highway outside Rock Hill, and S.C. 5 near Rock Hill. Other roads affected included Sharon Road and Spring Lake Road near York and Mandarin Drive near Rock Hill, deputies said on social media.
Rock Hill Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Simmons said crews were responding to several calls around the city. York Police Department spokesman Sgt. David Dover said the storm caused power outages.
Darren Player, Lancaster County Emergency Management Director, said U.S. 521 had some blockage as the northern parts of the county dealt with torrential rain, high wind and some hail.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for most of York and Chester counties and the northern part of Lancaster County, resulting in the outages.
Check back for updates.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 4:06 PM.
