Heavy rains Saturday morning flooded areas in Southern Pines and Aberdeen, damaging several businesses and one apartment complex.

“We had a significant amount of flooding,” said Southern Pines Assistant Fire Chief Mike Cameron, “more than we’ve seen in a while.”

Cameron said the majority of the damage from the flooding happened at a strip of businesses at 160 Pinehurst Ave., across from Shucker’s restaurant.

“The drains in the parking lot became stopped up with pine straw, and they couldn’t handle the water volume, causing damage to the businesses and some of the storage units behind them,” he said.

Seven units at Highland Apartments on Richards Street also had water damage, Southern Pines fire officials said.

In Aberdeen, firefighters responded to reports of flooding at several businesses on U.S. 15-501, including Best Buy and the Par 3 Car Wash, Fire Chief Phillip Richardson said.

Lightning sparked a fire that damaged a home on West Main Street, Richard-son said. A home on Sun Road had flood damage, he said.

The storms caused no significant damage in Pinehurst or the northern parts of the county, according to emergency officials.

Thunderstorms rumbled through the southeastern part of the county Saturday morning, dumping up to four inches of rain before 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh. That prompted the weather service to issue a flash flood warning.

“We started getting calls around 8:30 a.m., and then it escalated around 9:30 a.m.,” Southern Pines Fire Marshal John Stone said.

The National Weather Service also received reports of flooding on several roads, including U.S. 15-501 near U.S. 1 in Aberdeen.

Public safety and fire officials from across the county said they were bracing for another round of storms as rain began to fall again about 12:30 p.m.

Aside from the flooding, damage in SouthernPines was limited to a few lightning strikes and one reported traffic accident, according to Stone.

Today’s forecast calls for a chance of more showers and thunderstorms. Some storms could be severe, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecasts call for dry, cooler weather for the early part of the week, with highs in the mid- to upper 80s.

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.