Thunderstorms blew through the area Saturday, leaving more than 5,000 people without power at one point.

Georgia Power customers along Wrightsboro Road accounted for about one-third of the 1,500 Augusta outages, spokeswoman Lynn Wallace said.

An additional 3,500 SCE&G customers were without power in Aiken, Edgefield and Saluda counties, according to the company's Web site.

At the Walmart Supercenter on Knox Avenue in North Augusta, lights briefly flickered during the storm, then just the overhead lights remained on. The wide display of big-screen TVs went dark, and the air conditioner stopped cooling.

Employees stretched yellow rope around the frozen food cases to keep customers from opening the doors.

Shoppers patiently waited in long lines at the checkout aisles for the power to be restored.

At 5 p.m., an employee asked customers to leave.

As employees hung blue tarps over the meat section to lock in the cool air, shoppers abandoned their buggies and walked to their cars.

More storms are in sight for the rest of the weekend, according to Tim Hawks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C.

Today's forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, but the high winds and hail that were expected Saturday are not in the forecast.

Today should be partly sunny with highs in the low 90s, Hawks said.

The Augusta-Fort Gordon area got 1 to 1.5 inches of rain in a matter of 30 minutes Saturday afternoon, according to the weather service Web site.

During that time, Augusta dispatch received numerous reports about minor weather-related traffic accidents, according to a Richmond County sheriff's dispatcher.

A traffic light at Highland and Central avenues was left hanging after the storm passed through, she said.

No flooding was reported despite the heavy rain.