Pictured: Help is on the way – Thayer Power and Communication (Michigan) staged at the ballfields in Williamston
Cleanup efforts are underway across the area following high winds and rain from Hurricane Helene that hit the upstate with a vengeance late Thursday night and early Friday. Williamston, Pelzer and Piedmont residents, emergency services and utility workers were dealing with downed trees and power lines, blocked roadways and in some cases flooding.
A survey of the area showed hundreds of trees down. Many homes were spared, however a number of homes in the area had trees fall on them and related damage.
Workers and volunteers began clearing fallen trees from roads Friday and throughout the weekend. Due to power outages, almost all local businesses were closed including gas stations, convenience and grocery stores.
By Sunday, Duke Energy’s Hurricane Helene recovery had restored power to nearly 1.1 million in the Carolinas. Approximately 904,000 customers, primarily in the S.C. Upstate and N.C. Mountains, were without power as of 6 p.m.
As power was restored locally, gas stations re-opened. Though there were no shortages, there was some waiting in line for customers. Propane and ice was also needed by many, and again, some waiting in lines. ACE Hardware opened and had propane available. The Twice the Ice machine in Williamston was also functioning.
Although some parts of Main Street in Williamston had power restored Sunday and Monday, many homes and business in Williamston, Pelzer, West Pelzer and surrounding areas remained without power.
Duke Energy officials said they strategically positioned lineworkers, tree trimmers and other storm support prior to Helene hitting the Upstate and were able to begin responding before the storm even left the region.
As of Sunday, the company had 18,000 people working on storm restoration efforts across the Carolinas. These include Duke Energy employees and contractors based in the Carolinas as well as individuals from other electric companies across the United States and Canada.
A group of workers from Thayer Power and Communications in Michigan were staged at the ballfields in Williamston Monday morning and began efforts to help Duke Energy get power restored locally.
According to Duke Energy, transmission infrastructure in the Upstate, which sends electricity to the distribution lines serving homes and businesses, was severely damaged and, in many cases, destroyed by wind, flooding, fallen trees, or other causes.
“Duke Energy is working to repair and rebuild this infrastructure to restore service as quickly and safely as possible and Duke officials continue working with state local officials to reach areas where accessibility has been a challenge,” their website stated.
As of Wednesday morning, approximately 2000 Duke customers in the Williamston area were without power including:
Hwy. 29/Willingham Road – 691
Williamston – 1022
East First Street to Rector Road – 157
Forest Hills/River Drive – 198
Approximately 1600 Duke customers in and around Pelzer and West Pelzer were also without power
According to Duke Energy, most of those customers, and others in surrounding areas, should have power restored by the end of the day on October 4.
A number of area resdients are served by Blue Ridege Electric Cooperative.
As of Saturday, a third of all Blue Ridge Electric Coop members had power as crews continued restoration work through the historic damage.
Engineers continued to reiterate that this remains a multi-day recovery.
Outside crews from Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Tennessee were helping restore power.
According to Blue Ridge Coop Communications Manager, Riley Morningstar, more than half of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members had power restored by Tuesday.
Since Friday, over 40,000 members had their power restored. Damage assessments confirmed over 625 broken poles, leaving approximately 24,151 members without power.
“The number of broken poles we have recorded is devastating, Morningstar said. “It’s the most we’ve ever recorded in our 84-year history.”
“Crews from seven states are now on the ground, working tirelessly to assist with restoration efforts,” Morningstar said.
Approximately 140 workers from Florida arrived Tuesday to provide additional help, bringing the total number of people providing assistance to Blue Ridge Coop members to 500.
As of Wednesday, approximately 40,000 Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members had their power restored.
As of Wednesday, the Blue Ridge outage numbers by county were:
Anderson – 3,149
Greenville – 3,188
Oconee – 8,643
Pickens – 9,125
Spartanburg – 43
