Orangeburg County is expected to receive maximum wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph through Saturday night, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Miller in the Columbia office.
The center of the slow-moving Tropical Storm Florence was close to the Williamsburg and Georgetown county line just after 10 a.m. on Saturday, Miller said. That’s about 75 miles east of Orangeburg.
Miller said Florence’s initial rain band passed through The T&D Region Saturday morning and the second rain band inched its way through heading into the noon hour.
Rain from the storm will continue through Sunday morning, he said.
As Florence creeps through the Palmetto State on Saturday, she’ll shift to the northwest over Clarendon and Calhoun counties, then Lexington County, before following a track back toward the North Carolina mountains, Miller explained.
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In The T&D Region, Miller said rainfall totals from Florence are expected to top out between 2 to 4 inches in Orangeburg County, with more than 6 inches around Holly Hill and Lake Marion.
By midmorning on Saturday, two inches of rainfall was measured in Manning.
Ponding of water of roadways is to be expected throughout the region, he said.
Rainfall totals are expected to be lower in Bamberg County and higher in Calhoun County, he said.
Residents throughout the T&D region made preparations in advance of Florence’s arrival and county emergency officials have taken precautionary steps to ensure the safety of all.
In Bamberg County, officials evacuated Voorhees College students from their dormitories, county public information officer Mary Tilton said.
Those students were sheltered in place along with about 11 county residents in the Leonard Dawson building on campus, Tilton noted.
There were about 130 people in the shelter as of midmorning on Saturday.
Tilton said Bamberg County continued to be out of the tropical storm warning area as officials monitored conditions carefully.
In Calhoun County, Emergency Management Director Dave Chojnacki reported that 15 local residents had taken up shelter at Calhoun County High School.
The shelter population reached 23 at one point, but a family decided to leave, he said.
He said Calhoun County is expected to get “rain and wind, but nothing like they were calling for.”
In Orangeburg County, there were 253 people housed in the county’s shelters, Orangeburg County Emergency Services Director Billy Staley said.
“We’re glad the public responded well and has been preparing all week. We’re anticipating the wind and rain to pick up today,” Staley said mid-morning on Saturday.
He said the shelters will remain open until the storm passes and roads are safe for traveling.
Staley said there were two reports of trees down in Branchville and Eutawville on Friday night, but local firefighters were able to remove them.
On mid-morning Saturday, the S.C. Highway Patrol reported trees were down at the intersection of U.S. Highways 301 and 176 at S.C. Highway 47.
Staley said about 500 people were without electricity in Bowman around 8:30 p.m. Friday, but crews restored power before the night was up.
He said the reason for the outage is unknown.
Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, there were 27 Tri-County Electricity customers without electricity in other parts of the county.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.