By admin 
Hours after the thunder had rolled away from Columbia and the rain had slowed Saturday, something mysterious happened downtown: A 125-year-old Oak tree that had been towering over the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Assembly Street for a century, split in half.
Read more One person killed in single-vehicle crash in Richland County, per Highway Patrol
The tree was one casualty from a weekend storm that led several area residents to report flooding in their yards, and which caused police to blockade a road after a vehicle was stranded attempting to drive through high water. Some power lines were also downed.
But by Monday, repairs had been made and Assistant City Manager Clint Shealy said he was not aware of any outstanding damage caused by the storm.
“We were fortunate that it wasn’t that severe,” Shealy said, while noting it was still a significant amount of rain. “We’ve seen a lot worse.”
The storied Oak tree was the only tree to fall due to the storm, but it’s not really clear what caused it to snap in half.
There was no evidence of a lightning strike or a heavy gust of wind, and the tree was healthy, Shealy said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever really know that, ‘Hey, this is the definitive cause of the failure of the tree,’” he added.
City arborists believe the weight of water on the tree’s leaves combined with years of stress may have just finally pushed the large canopy past its breaking point.
“We just haven’t found a smoking gun on that yet, I don’t know that we will,” he said.
Read more One person dead, another arrested after shooting in Columbia area, sheriff says
Downed limbs from the massive tree filled a portion of Assembly Street Saturday night, and also took down power lines connected to the stop light at that intersection.
The limbs have since been cleared from the street, and all that remains of the tree is a large stump in the middle of the median.
Shealy called the tree “one of the prettiest,” in the city, but also noted it was the only downed tree caused by the storm.
Elsewhere, the storms caused some damage to Dominion Energy lines, but not significant issues with city water and sewer infrastructure, he said.
City officials closed parts of Elmwood Avenue and Assembly Street Saturday evening to make repairs.
City staff are analyzing the rainfall data to determine the severity of the storm, but Shealy said it was relatively minor compared to other weather events in recent years.
Several parts of the city did see heavy rain and flash flooding. At least one vehicle was stranded after attempting to drive through high water at the intersection of Main and Whaley streets. That intersection is among the most flood-prone in the city and is often the first place to flood during heavy rain, Shealy said.
Meteorologist Chris Jackson shared a video Saturday of a car attempting and failing to clear the high water at that intersection.
Read more Woman’s body recovered from the Broad River in Columbia, authorities say