COLUMBIA, S.C. — A wave of severe thunderstorms caused widespread damage across the Midlands, snapping trees and killing one at least one person.
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The death happened when a tree fell on a man on a 61-year-old Columbia Avenue, near River Drive in Columbia.
The high winds have already caused damage across the region. At the reporting station that sits atop Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, a wind gust of 79 miles an hour was reported.
News19 has received numerous images of downed trees across the region. Lanes of Assembly Street in downtown Columbia were blocked after a tree fell in that roadway. That scene was similar in other areas as well, with other blockages.There were also traffic lights out, including in multiple parts of Columbia.
And with all those trees down, there are also power outages too. At the peak, there were 22,000 outages in Richland County, and 31,000 in Lexington County, and almost 12,000 outages in Orangeburg County.
Pictures: Storm damage on June 20, 2019
Friday will be mostly sunny and dry. High temperatures will be in the middle 90s. The first weekend of summer will be hot and humid with highs in the middle 90s.