More severe weather possible Saturday night after 2nd storm causes outages in Midlands
Over 18,000 homes were without power in the Midlands following a second round of severe weather and it might not be done.
An overnight thunderstorm, which rolled through between 4 and 6 a.m., knocked down trees and left homes of Richland and Lexington counties in the dark. Around 9 a.m. in Richland, over 13,500 places had no power. In Lexington, more than 4,700 places were without electricity, according to information from Dominion Energy, formerly SCE&G. Power was restored to some of the locations by 10 a.m.
Around 8 a.m., the National Weather Service of Columbia said it anticipates another round of potentially severe weather Saturday evening and night. The weather service predicts the storm may start between 6 and 9 p.m. in Lexington and Richland counties. Winds may gust up to 60 miles per hour.
This was the second time in three days that wind, rain and lightning blasted through Columbia. A sudden storm on Thursday caused similar problems as Saturday’s storm and killed at least one person. Winds gusts potential reached to around 60 miles per hour with the Saturday morning storm, according to the National Weather Service in Columbia.
With the latest storm, one of the largest areas hit was Fort Jackson. Power at the base was knocked out, leaving more than 2,000 structures without electricity, Dominion Energy data showed. Some of the power was restored, Fort Jackson officials announced, with full power expected to return by 10 a.m.
St. Andrews is also experiencing a high number of outages near Metze Road, according to Dominion Energy. Between 500 and 2000 places just beyond the Broad River Bridge near Greystone are still without electricity and Highland Park off Farrow Road is experiencing the same number of outages. In Northeast Columbia, hundreds, maybe thousands, of outages are occurring around the Lake Pointe neighborhood, near Spring Valley High School and Sparkleberry Road, Dominion Energy maps indicate.
The severe weather brought down more trees in residential areas near downtown Columbia, including a large one near Dreher High School. Reports of limbs blocking roads also came out of Forest Acres.
No injuries have been reported.
This story was originally published June 22, 2019 at 10:09 AM.