High winds push down trees, lines

Lines of thunderstorms that moved through the Augusta area Tuesday night brought small hail and high winds, causing some trees to topple in parts of Aiken County and some scattered power outages.

• Photos

Associated Press

Two men use 4-wheel-drive vehicles to help free a moving company tractor-trailer that got stuck while trying to make it up a street after a 13-inch snowfall in Russellville, Ark.

A tornado warning was issued for Aiken County shortly after 7 p.m. as National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated evidence of a tornado near New Ellenton, but National Weather Service officials later said a tornado didn't touch down.

Dispatchers in Aiken said trees had fallen on some roads, and pellet-sized hail was reported along Five Notch Road.

Ashley Monts, of SCE&G, said about 1,300 homes lost power in Aiken County.

Augusta 911 dispatchers said there had been some power outages with lines down, affecting parts of Windsor Spring Road, Central Avenue, Washington Road, Bungalow Road, 15th Street and Essie McIntyre Boulevard. At Oakdale mobile home park, a tree had reportedly fallen on a house, but there were no major injuries.

In Columbia County, Emergency Services Director Pam Tucker said, "Considering the track of the storm, we all did very well. We need the rain, 1 to 2 inches."

A tornado watch remained in effect until 2 a.m. today for Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Aiken, Barnwell and McCormick counties.