Photo by Sefton Ipock

Luke Riddle with the Anderson City Fire Department directs traffic around downed power lines in front of 703 W. Whitner St. Monday. A storm that swept through the area in the late evening knocked out power and brought down several trees.

Photo by Sefton Ipock

Nick Kinley with the Centerville Fire Department surveys the damage to the house at 209 J Street in Anderson after a storm caused a tree to fall on it Monday.

Public safety officials were busy Monday night with downed trees and power lines as severe thunderstorms moved through Anderson County.

About a half-inch of rain was reported at the Anderson Regional Airport, and also at Greenville-Spartanburg airport, said Doug Outlaw, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The high on Monday reached 98 degrees before the arrival of the storms.

Trees were reported down at McDuffie Street and Hampton, at West Whitner Street, at Hillcrest Circle, River, Fant and White streets, among other locations. A report also came in of trees over power lines at Franklin and West Reese.

A spokeswoman from the Anderson County Emergency Services Division said Monday night they were too swamped with incidents to even stop and count the number of reported trees down.

Power lines were reported down at Hanover Circle and a dispatch reported a tree had fallen on a house at 4507 Lanier Ave. about 8:25 p.m. A tree also was reported on a house on J Street, authorities said.

Power lines also were reported down at Calhoun Street near Anderson University. A traffic light at Greenville and Bellview streets also was out, police reported.

At one point Monday night, Duke Energy reported more than 6,000 customers without power in Anderson County, and more than 12,000 customers in Greenville County without electricity.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the western part of Anderson County until 7:15 p.m., but the storm was still moving through the county as of 8:30 p.m. The NWS said the storm was capable of producing penny size hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.

Outlaw said there is a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and a 50 percent chance on Wednesday.

He said the storms that moved through on Monday night were typical summer storms, but “a little more active than a summer afternoon thunderstorm.”