FLORENCE - Winter weather struck the area the day after Christmas, knocking out power to more than 20,000 homes and businesses in the Pee Dee.

The National Weather Service said freezing rain, snow and sleet had stopped falling around noon Sunday across the state.

About three-fourths an inch of the winter mix fell in Aiken County with about a half-inch falling in other Midlands locations.

Progress Energy spokeswoman Julie Hans said about 20,000 homes and businesses were still without power at 5 p.m.

Sunday in the Pee Dee - most in Darlington, Florence and Marlboro counties. The Pee Dee Electric Cooperative said about 2,000 of its customers mostly in the Darlington and Florence areas were still without power as of 1 p.m.

The companies said the problems were caused mostly by ice-laden limbs falling on lines.

WBTW News 13 meteorologist Monte Montello said people should stay try to stay home when the weather gets bad.

“Two main things that can be a problem are travel and power outages,” he said. “The best thing to do when faced with winter weather is to stay home. You don’t really have to worry about a whole lot in your house unless your power goes out. Winter weather doesn’t directly hurt people like tornadoes and hurricanes, so as long as you don’t travel, you’re going to be fine.”

Although many people were on the roads trying to get bargains, surprisingly there were not many accidents in the Pee Dee.

One benefit of the weather striking when it did was most people were in the places where they were staying for the holiday so fewer travelers were on the roads.

Also, by the time most people woke on the day after Christmas, some of the ice had melted, and the roads were okay.

“Last night, and today, there might have been a couple (accidents), but I don’t think it was anything out of the ordinary,” Maj. Carlos Raines of the Flor-ence Police Department said. “The day after Christmas and a lot of stuff being closed, it kind of affected what the weekend traffic was, and also being Sunday the morning traffic wasn’t as bad.”

Bad weather kept one Pee Dee woman off the road. “I didn’t go to church until 11 o’clock service because it was raining so bad and I wanted the slush to go down before I went out,” Lillie Packer of Florence said. “I wanted to keep out of the hazards so I wouldn’t wreck.”

But many holiday shoppers ignored the weather and decided to brave the elements in search of sales.

“I didn’t think it was too bad at all,” said Donna Streett, a visitor from Savannah, Ga.

Employees need to be at the stores so people can shop, but it can be troubling for them to make it to work.

“A lot of the trees were hanging down because of the weather, and I have a convertible, so I was hoping none of the big trees were going to hit me,” Judy Rasberry, a Belk employee, said. “There were only a few limbs in the road, and you just ride around them. If it’s not bad and iced over, the people will be here.”

Interstates 20 and 77 in the Midlands had slushy road conditions early Sunday, the state Transportation Department reported on its Web site. Ice patches were reported in Laurens County on Interstates 26 and 85. Elsewhere, interstates were just wet or had normal conditions, the Transportation Department said.

There was at least one traffic death in South Carolina on Sunday. James Pearce Mumford, 16, of Jackson was killed when his car ran off the road about 5 a.m. and he and his passenger were ejected, the Highway Patrol reported.

Patrol spokesman Lance Cpl. Josef Robinson, who would not release the passenger’s name because he also is a minor, said the passenger was taken to the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta with life-threatening injuries.

Robinson said the weather wasn’t the primary cause of the accident, though it could have contribu-ted. He said the accident re-mains under investigation.

The storm was caused by a low pressure area moving across the nor-thern Gulf of Mexico that met up with an arctic front that had brought record snowfalls to the Midwest this week, according to the National Weather Service.

The ice and cold are supposed to be heading out this week.

“This kind of weather is gone it basically wrapped up yesterday afternoon, and it cleared up, and we should see sunshine the rest of the week,” Montello said.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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