Sunday storm damage slight

Chris Moore / The Item Merchandise at Dixie Products was thrown by the wind during a severe thunderstorm in Sumter on Sunday evening.

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, lightning, high winds and nickel- to golf ball-sized hail struck parts of Sumter and Clarendon counties Sunday night.

"Most of the damage reports we received from last night's storm have come from Sumter and Charleston counties," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Leonard Vaughan on Monday.

Vaughan said a severe thunderstorm struck near the city of Sumter about 8:30 p.m.

A power pole on the corner of Liberty Street and Guignard Drive split, said Sumter Emergency Management Director Robbie Baker.

Hail and wind caused significant roof damage to county-owned buildings on North Main Street near Runnymede, he said.

Broken windows and roof damage caused by tree limbs and hail were reported in the historic district of Sumter, officials said.

Hail as big as half-dollars was reported on Alice Drive, Wise Drive and near the University of South Carolina Sumter campus, Vaughan said. Golf ball-sized hail was reported on Clematis Trail Road, Vaughan said.

A severe thunderstorm also hit near Manning about 7 p.m., and nickel-sized hail was reported one mile southwest of Manning, he said. Clarendon County Director of Emergency Management Anthony Mack said there were no reports of significant damage in Clarendon County.

Numerous power outages were reported in Sumter and Clarendon counties, according to Progress Energy Spokeswoman Mindy Taylor.

"Most of our problems were caused by tree limbs falling on power lines. Sumter and Clarendon counties were hit pretty hard," Taylor said. "We had more than 1,000 customers in the Sumter area that lost power. And in Clarendon County, about half of the company's customers in the Manning area lost power."

More than 1,700 customers in Manning were affected, Taylor said.

Chris Moore / The Item Joe Pong, right, and Eddie Harrington assess storm damage at Dixie Products on Lafayette Drive from a thunderstorm that moved through Sumter on Sunday evening.

As of noon Monday, power had been restored to all but seven customers in Sumter and one in Manning, Taylor said.

Black River Electric Vice President of Engineering Charlie Allen said about 30 customers in Kershaw, Lee, Sumter and Clarendon counties lost power temporarily as a result of wind and lightning damage. Power was restored soon after the storm ended, he said.

About 515 Black River customers in Sumter County lost power for about four hours when a car struck a utility pole about 6 p.m. on Dinkins Mill Road near U.S. 521, Allen said.

Rainfall totals from the thunderstorms were impressive, with Sumter receiving 1.4 inches of rain. Almost an inch of rain was recorded in Manning. Areas north and west of Sumter received less rain. Shaw Air Force Base reported two tenths of an inch of rain, and Wedgefield had almost four tenths of an inch, Vaughan said.

Forecasters said the frontal boundary causing the unstable weather was expected to move south of the area on Monday night.

Less than a 10 percent chance of rain is expected today, but the chance of showers and thunderstorms increases on Wednesday and Thursday as the frontal boundary moves northward and another cold front approaches from the west, Vaughan said.

Rainfall since January is still from 2 to 6 inches below normal, Vaughan said.

"Some areas have got decent rainfall in April and May, but other areas haven't," he said. "We've received more rain in recent months than we did last year, and it just seems like we've had more rain than we've actually had. We're still falling below where we should be."



Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or (803) 491-4533.