Severe weather warnings Friday for Chapin end with wind damage in Irmo

Chapin, SC (Paul Kirby) – The Chapin area of Lexington County was under a thunderstorm warning Friday afternoon after radar from the National Weather Service indicated strong storms in the Prosperity and Little Mountain areas of Newberry County. That warning was quickly followed by a tornado warning after the NWS radar indicated rotation within that storm. All of it was moving east toward northwest Lexington County or the Chapin area.

Although the Chapin community did receive some rain and wind, the only damage reported in Lexington County from the storm was in the area covered by the Irmo Fire District. A tree fell on a two-story house on Bilton Road in a subdivision off Bush River Road between Wescott and the Lake Murray dam. This isn’t far from the IFD’s North Lake station and firefighters arrived quickly after the call regarding the tree strike was dispatched. Apparently, no one was home at the time of the incident.

The home’s roof was damaged when the large hardwood was uprooted and toppled into the house. It’s not uncommon for a hardwood’s root ball to pull loose from the ground after periods of prolonged rain when the soil is saturated with water. Often, a wind gust is all it takes to topple these in storm conditions. No damage estimates have been released.