Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

More than 1,400 Polk residents without power Monday

FOOTHILLS—In the midst of a pandemic and stay-at-home orders, the area was hammered Easter Sunday with strong storms. 

Area residents were awoken at 3:42 a.m. Monday with a tornado warning for the area as high winds ripped through the foothills. No tornados touched down in the Polk County or Landrum areas, although others did in South Carolina. 

There were no reports of deaths or injuries in the area, as heavy rains and winds caused trees to fall throughout the area. 

Many areas were without power and Internet services much of Monday. 

Polk County Emergency Management Director Bobby Arledge said Polk County had 1,401 Duke Energy customers without power Monday. Power outages for REA, Polk County’s other power company, were not available as of press time. 

The Pacolet Valley had a tree down blocking the road, knocking out power to residents. Charter services were out all day Monday, including all of downtown Tryon and Columbus. 

At one point early Monday morning, Lake Lanier was blocked by two trees down across the road. One tree fell and blocked East Lakeshore Drive in First Basin and another was down across the road in the Boy Scout Camp area of West Lakeshore Drive. 

Polk County was one of several counties in North Carolina who suffered widespread power outages on Monday. More than 80,000 people were without power across the state, with Charlotte having the most outages and western North Carolina having many as well. 

Tryon received 3.34 inches of rain Sunday into Monday morning. The normal rainfall for the month of April is 4.58 inches, according to the National Weather Service.