Cleanup continues after storm punishes Beaufort County

June 21--As wind wreaked havoc outside his family's Beaufort home Friday, Jose Cruz sought a safe spot for the group to wait out the storm.

The 14-year-old and his family were outside moving a car. A falling branch had cracked its windshield.

When they got back inside, Jose urged his mother and two younger brothers to go into the master bedroom.

"We were sitting on the floor," said Jose, whose brothers are 3 and 8. "The next thing you know, we saw the roof crack."

A large tree crashed through the home the family rents on Tekoa Lane. Two of the family's cars were also damaged during the storm.

The family is staying with Jose's uncle in Beaufort.

Cleanup efforts continue after a punishing storm swept through Beaufort County on Friday afternoon, downing trees and power lines and leaving thousands without power.

In Beaufort County, 17,651 SCE&G customers were without power at the peak of the outage Friday, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday. Some customers were without power for more than 24 hours, according to their posts on the SCE&G and The Beaufort Gazette Facebook pages.

More than 11,000 Palmetto Electric Cooperative customers experienced outages Friday, spokesman Tray Hunter said. Of those, 8,000 were customers in southern Beaufort County who lost power for about 20 minutes when a tree fell on a transmission line, he said.

Power was restored to the remaining customers Saturday morning. Hunter said the company will be monitoring any area trees weakened by the storm.

A Port Royal resident was also displaced by tree damage, town manager Van Willis said.

A large tree that fell at Port Royal Elementary School damaged the roof and classroom ceiling, Beaufort County schools spokesman Jim Foster said Tuesday.

There are no estimates yet on repair costs, he said. A tarp is covering the damaged roof, and water was removed from the classroom floor.

Beaufort County dispatchers received more than 1,000 calls within a couple of hours Friday, the Sheriff's Department posted on its Facebook page Monday. The department's evening patrol was brought in early to help cover the calls.

Area residents helped deputies remove a tree on Meridian Road on Lady's Island and to haul away trees blocking Lands End Road on St. Helena Island.

Shivhan Sims was visiting friend Melissa Fox on Center Drive. Sims was outside rolling the windows up and telling a neighbor a storm was coming.

An oak tree from the neighboring yard cracked at the base and fell across Fox's driveway, onto Sims and Fox's 7-year-old son, Brody.

"I heard a crack, crack, crack and looked up and saw the tree coming," Sims said Tuesday. "I just closed my eyes. I thought my life was over, I really did."

Sims and the boy were able to crawl -- with only minor inuries -- from beneath the tree, which had crushed the neighbor's Ford truck and landed on Fox's white BMW and Sims' Honda Accord. The tree was still there Tuesday morning and the residents and Sims are waiting on insurance adjusters.

Sims, who loves on Lady's Island, noted the numerous trees down along Ribaut Road. The stretch of the road from First Boulevard to Mossy Oaks Road was periodically closed to traffic Friday evening.

"There were trees everywhere," Sims said. "It was like a tornado kept touching down in certain areas."

Stephen Fastenau: 843-706-8182, @IPBG_Stephen

___

(c)2016 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.)

Visit The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.) at www.islandpacket.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.