Severe thunderstorms bring large hailstones, cut power to thousands in SC

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Severe thunderstorms swept through our area on Saturday evening, bringing an abrupt end to the summer-like weather.

In York County, the storms resulted in various sizes of hail, fallen trees blocking roads, and property damage.

Trent Faris, the Public Information Officer for the York County Sheriff’s Office, shared multiple photos of the large hail on X, formerly Twitter. Some hailstones were almost the same size as quarters.

Just before 6 p.m. Saturday, Duke Energy reported the severe weather had left more than 4,000 customers without power. While linemen were out trying to repair the damage and restore electricity, the utility didn’t expect it to be restored until Sunday morning.

Neighbors said there is only one word to describe the storm: Catastrophic.

“It sounded like a train eating aluminum with an AK-47 shooting up the house,” Rosa McClinton said. “That’s the way it sounds.”

“Nothing like this in my 54 years,” Nicole Broaddus said. “I mean nothing, and I’ve been all over the world.”

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In Chester County, a Channel 9 viewer sent in a video of large bolts of lightning illuminating the dark sky.

Severe thunderstorms bring large hail, knock down trees, cut power across area

Residents in Lancaster County also experienced large hail during Saturday’s weather. In the picture below, you can see the strength of the storms caused some trees to start falling over onto the road.

In Rock Hill, neighbors in the Roddey Park neighborhood have started picking up the pieces.

“It’s devastating, to be honest with you,” Rodney McCray said, adding, ”Our house was in impacted -- a window shattered. My wife’s car totaled from the hail damage. It’s crazy.”

McCray said his wife and kids were driving home when they got caught in the middle of the storm.

“She said it sounded like gunshots. It was extremely loud,” he said. “And she thought the way it was coming down was actually going to come through the windshield.”

Another Roddey Park resident shared a photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing heavy damage to the siding of a home.

On Sunday, Reporter Ken Lemon, visited the home of a Lancaster County sheriff’s deputy off Lige Street in Rock Hill, where a large tree caused extensive damage to years of renovations.

“I’ve lived in Rock Hill for 10 years and have been working on this house for eight years,” resident Phil Hoskins said. “We just about had our own little dream place.”

Luckily, Carpenter and the other resident in the home were out to dinner when the severe weather hit.

Nicole Broaddus said she took cover in the bathroom. When the storm finally rolled out, she walked outside.

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“Saw the trampoline in the woods. The fence is gone. And we go out front and just see all this ice and just a sheet of white,” she said Monday.

Severe Weather Center 9 reported wind gusts were faster than 60 mph, bringing down dozens of massive trees.

“It was really just eerie, just seeing all the trees come down,” Chuck Taylor said. “You’d never think anything like that from where you live.”

Neighbors said while the damage is massive, it can be fixed.

“I just thank God that we made it through the storm,” Rodney McCray said.

Neighbors told Channel 9′s Almiya White they already reached out to their insurance companies to assess the damage. But even without their input, neighbors believe it’ll take months to repair and clean up the mess left behind.

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