Storm knocks out power to hundreds in Horry, Marion counties

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Heavy rain across the Grand Strand and Pee Dee Sunday afternoon knocked out power to hundreds and made driving hazardous in some areas.

During the storm, power was out to more than 1,700 customers in Horry County and more than 200 in Marion County, and the number of outages fluctuated throughout the afternoon and early evening.

As of about 6 p.m., Santee Cooper’s online outage map showed that an outage in the Carolina Forest area remained at about 1,600 customers.

At about 5:30 p.m., the website also showed an outage caused by lightning that was affecting more than 1,300 customers in an area along Ocean Boulevard between Highway 9 and 53rd Avenue North in North Myrtle Beach. However, as of 6 p.m., the website showed that power there had been restored. A smaller outage in North Myrtle Beach continued to affect about two dozen customers.

Santee Cooper’s website also showed that service had been restored to about 650 customers in an area along 10th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach. Service was also restored after smaller outages reported earlier in the Loris and Pawleys Island areas.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety’s traffic monitoring website showed multiple wrecks and traffic lights out in Horry County Sunday afternoon but no serious injuries.

As of 5:40 p.m., the SCDPS website showed that traffic lights were out in the area of Carolina Forest Boulevard and Highway 501.

The website also showed that authorities were investigating a report of a tree blocking the road in the area of Dog Bluff and Jordanville roads near Galivants Ferry.

Horry County Fire Rescue said the tree knocked down a power line and that utility crews are at the scene.

Elsewhere across the Pee Dee, as of about 4:45 p.m., Duke Energy’s outage map showed show that an outage that had knocked out service to more than 210 customers in Marion County had been mostly restored. There were also smaller outages Sunday afternoon in Darlington, Dillon and Florence counties.

The storm was the result of a slow-moving cold front making its way through the region. Between one and two inches of rain was predicted.

Count on News13 for updates.