Widespread power outages and downed trees were reported as a severe storm tore through Upshur County Friday morning.

Beginning at about 5 a.m., the storm roared through, with lightning and high winds.

Sheriff Anthony Betterton said that high winds combined with wet ground knocked several trees down, blocking roads.

Heavy equipment was called out to remove them, in some cases.

Betterton said county Road and Bridge workers and Texas Department of Transportation employees were out since 6 a.m. working to clear the debris.

Among roads reported completely or partially blocked by downed trees were FM 726, Pecan (two large pine trees), Ginger and Tangerine.

The weather station at the Gilmer airport recorded a temperature drop from 80 degrees at 5 a.m. Friday to 61 degrees at 6 a.m., and a total of .61 inch of rain had fallen by 10 a.m. Light rain continued through the morning, but radar showed the storm line had moved to the east by noon.

Upshur Rural Electric Coop said that about 2,000 scattered customers, in several counties, were without power at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Harrison County was among the hardest hit.

Upshur Rural General Manager John Dugan said that at that time there were about 50 customers without power between Gilmer and the Country Club.

He said they expected most customers to have power restored sometime Friday afternoon.

“We’ve got a long day ahead of us,” he said.

SWEPCO’s outage reporting map showed 668 of its customers without power at about 9 a.m. in Upshur County. That’s about 11 percent of its customers in the county.

In Gregg County, about 10 percent of SWEPCO customers lost power for varying periods. Harrison County was harder hit, with SWEPCO reporting 21 percent of its customers losing power there.