Storm rips front from downtown Orangeburg building; high temps continue next week

Severe storms rolled through the region Thursday evening, ripping the metal facade from the New Evergreen building on Russell Street in downtown Orangeburg.

The business is temporarily closed until the damage can be cleaned up and repairs are completed.

The storm also downed trees and caused power outages.

Trees were reported down at the intersection of Cameron Road and McCords Ferry Road in Calhoun County.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported trees down on Interstate 95 south near Holly Hill. The SCHP also reported a tree down on Homestead Road before the town limit of Bowman.

Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities spokesman Randy Etters said about 300 customers were without power across the DPU system, with DPU crews working the entire night to restore power. The power was out between 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.

The storms did bring some needed rain.

A reporting station near Santee recorded about 1.34 inches of rain, while a station near Orangeburg reported about half an inch. A station near St. Matthews recorded about .37 inches.

Local emergency officials continue to monitor rising temperatures with an eye toward the possibility of opening up cooling shelters if warranted.

“We recommend people go to places like the mall and other places where there is air conditioning,” Orangeburg County Emergency Services Director Billy Staley said Friday.

Staley and the county administrator will plan to discuss the matter of shelters, especially with temperatures forecast to reach 100 next week.

Bamberg County Public Information Officer Sh’Kur Francis said no shelters have opened but county emergency officials continue to monitor the weather and have plans to open shelters if they are needed.

During the past week, temperatures hovered in the upper 90s to around 100, which is about four to eight degrees above normal for Orangeburg. The National Weather Service says no record highs have been broken.

The record high for Orangeburg this time of year is around 102 degrees.

Abundant sunshine is forecast for the coming week.

Temperatures Saturday are expected to be in the middle 90s with a slight cool down forecast for Sunday, with a high temperature in the upper 80s.

Temperatures are then forecast to rise through the week with highs Wednesday and Thursday of about 100.

While temperatures are forecast to be nearing the century mark, dew points are forecast to be in the 60s, helping to make the heat less oppressive.

The average high for this time of year for Orangeburg is around 89.

DPU has the capacity to continue serving its customers during the heat, Etters said.

“Currently the DPU is watching the constraints being placed on the electricity generation and capacity and how that may impact capacity that is reserved for the DPU,” Etters said.

“Based on the interconnectivity of the electric grid, were our supplier to have a capacity issue, power would be purchased on our behalf from a secondary market that would maintain the reliability that our customers enjoy,” he said.

“Therefore for the short term, we do not anticipate any issues,” Etters said. “Longer term, it is clear that additional generation will need to be brought online to satisfy future needs.

“These needs will come from a higher penetration of electric vehicles in the market and the associated charging equipment.”