A storm system that blew through Aiken County on Saturday downed trees and power lines, knocked out power to thousands of homes and caused widespread property damage.

More than 18,000 Aiken County customers of Aiken Electric Co-op and SCE&G were without power Saturday night, said Aiken County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank. Twenty percent of those customers were in the North Augusta area.

No injuries were reported as of Saturday night, but there were reports of looting in Clearwater, Lt. Frank said.

"We're still estimating the damage and determining how many families were displaced," he said.

Troopers manned the Aiken-Augusta Highway for most of Saturday night because of traffic light blackouts, Lt. Frank said.

Sheriff Michael Hunt advised residents of north and northeast Aiken County to remain in their homes until 8 this morning.

Just after power went out in her Palm Drive home, Ruth McGraw heard a big crash. A tree had crashed into the living room, inches from her bedroom.

"I was frightened real bad," she said as she called neighbors to find somewhere to stay for the evening.

In North Augusta, Marie West heard a loud noise at her mobile home on Cherokee Drive, where Aiken County sheriff's deputies said a tornado was reported.

"Something told me to go check on my son," she said.

Parts of the ceiling in her 17-year-old's room had fallen, but he was in another part of the home. Trees had come through the ceiling.

"My son is lucky, really lucky, that he wasn't hurt," she said. "The last time it rained so hard, I didn't get up. It didn't wake me up. This time, something told me to get up."

Chad Freeman said he, his wife and two small children left their home, also on Cherokee Drive, about five minutes before two trees slammed into it.

"I heard on the news it was coming, so we went to Hamrick's to get shelter," he said. "We saw a rainbow when we got there, so we thought it was all over. Then, we came back to this."

Trees destroyed the front end of their trailer home and their kitchen, Mr. Freeman said.

Their neighbors' homes faced similar fates.

Large trees had landed squarely in the center of homes beside and behind the Freemans.

Aiken County sheriff's deputies moved power lines and debris that held up traffic on Cherokee Drive for several hours Saturday night.

Food and shelter were the main things on Janice Freeman's mind as she packed up valuable items from their home. She said she hoped their landlord would soon repair the damage to the home they have lived in for two years.

"My kids were crying and saying, 'We need a new home,' " Mrs. Freeman said. "I'm just wondering where are we going to go."

In Bath, Augusta Chronicle online producer Steven Schretzmann reported the top of the water tower and the roof of the post office were blown off. The post office roof was strewn across South Carolina Highway 421, and a home nearby was severely damaged by a fallen tree. A number of homes in the Bath-Clearwater area were damaged by fallen trees.

A power outage forced postponement of the Lipizzaner Stallions' performance at the University of South Carolina Aiken Convocation Center. Kayla Ott, of the convocation center, said the performance was rescheduled for 6 p.m. today. She said Saturday's tickets would be honored at the 2 p.m. performance today.

For more information, call the convocation center's box office at (803) 643-6900.

Staff Writers Bill Norton and Julia Sellers contributed to this report.