Power outages reported across Midlands due to severe weather

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Updated numbers: Update as of noon on Sunday, Richland County residents with no power dropped to 3,682, Lexington County outages dropped to 4,040, and Newberry County outages are now affecting 843 residents. Saluda County stands at 783 residents without power and Fairfield County has 461 outages remaining.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Thousands across the Midlands are without power after severe weather brought wind gusts of over 60 mph.

According to poweroutage.us, multiple counties have been heavily affected. As of 10:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, 34,989 residents are without power across Lexington County. In Saluda County, around 8,567 residents are without power, and across Richland County 17,490 customers are affected. 1,978 customers in Fairfield County are affected as well.

A total of over 145,000 customers are reportedly without power statewide. The site also reports 47,678 Dominion Energy customers affected, and 45,339 Duke Energy customers also without power.

According to Sheriff Lee Foster of Newberry County, a wide area of Newberry County was hit with either a tornado or a downburst from a line of storms. There are numerous trees and power lines down all over county, saying, “We were under a Thunderstorm Warning but no Tornado Watch/Warning issued. Emergency Services, DOT, and power crews are working diligently in dangerous conditions to restore. Please only call 911 if an emergency. Everyone is aware of outages and they are working.”

Conditions are expected to improve overnight. Tune into ABC Columbia News at 11 p.m. for updates.