‘We were not prepared.’ Helene cuts path of destruction through Greenwood Co., western SC

The winds swept through South Carolina at 70 miles per hour. Rain lashed down, dumping as much as 15 inches of water in some places. As the weather cleared into clear blue skies Friday afternoon and Saturday, many residents — especially those in many western South Carolina counties were confronted with devastation.

Leaves littered the ground as tall, old trees were uprooted, crushing power lines as they toppled across roads and into houses.

Among the hardest hit counties was Greenwood, where nearly everyone was without power Saturday.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever seen anything like this in Greenwood,” said Robbie Templeton, a member of Greenwood County Council. “We’ve got power lines down everywhere, people have got trees down through their homes.”

In many older neighborhoods, large trees were brought down by Helene’s winds. Oak trees were torn out of the ground, said Welborn Adams, the former mayor of Greenwood, who saw a tree come through the roof of his kitchen.

“It’s just incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Adams told The State.

To several residents, the only event that came close was an outbreak of tornadoes in 1984 that flattened a hospital in Newberry, killing 15 in South Carolina. For Greenwood, Hurricane Hugo in 1989 or the 2015 ice storm that left thousands without power in the area around Aiken did not even compare, residents said.

South Carolina is no stranger to hurricanes. The powerful storms seem to lash the coast at least once a year. But when Hurricane Helene emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, as a category four storm, it cut its devastating path through the inland counties of western South Carolina and into the Upstate.

“When I’ve got friends from the coast calling me, checking on me, that’s unusual,” Templeton said.

At least 23 are reported dead across the state , including two volunteer firefighters in neighboring Saluda County.

While the Greenwood County administration and utility companies say they prepared for the storm, which came ashore in Florida but veered further east into South Carolina than many expected, residents acknowledged that they were caught unprepared for the devastation or the near-total loss of services.

“We were not prepared, I don’t think anybody was prepared for this,” Adams said, noting that his family hadn’t even stocked up on food before the storm.

Information from many of the most impacted counties remained scarce by midday Saturday. Aiken, Saluda and Newberry imposed curfews Friday night and power remains out in large swathes of this area.

In Greenwood, county and municipal authorities say they are working to restore power and basic services after the chaos unleashed by the storms.

As of Saturday afternoon, 26,924 of the county’s 27,077 utility customers, roughly 99.4%, were still without power, according to Poweroutage.us . Similar outage numbers are being reported in Saluda, Newberry, Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

“Right now we’ve got crews out assessing damages,” said Abby Banks, a public information officer for Greenwood County. “We’re still still trying to get roadways cleared and just even trying to get landfills and convenience centers back open.”

Banks said the county administration is working with state emergency officials to get power and services restored. But downed trees left many roads inaccessible, slowing access for rescuers or utility workers looking to restore power, who have had to cut their way through fallen trees to inspect or repair equipment.

281,000 customers of South Carolina’s electric co-ops were without power Saturday afternoon, down from 425,000 Friday said Avery Wilks, vice president of communication for the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. As many as 1400 utility poles were snapped, with most of the outages and damages concentrated in the western part of the state. “They got hammered pretty hard,” Wilks said.

On Saturday, residents reported long lines at the few businesses that were open, including gas stations, restaurants and the Waffle House. A Publix and KJ’s grocery store were still open and running with generators, said Adams.

But residents of Greenwood were banding together, clearing falling trees and debris from roads and each other’s yards. Adams, whose shoulder is still sore from running a chainsaw for five hours Friday, clearing fallen trees, said restaurants were giving away food and an “amazing” number of people were out helping clean up damage.

Everyone is out, helping each other, Templeton said. “Fire departments, emergency crews, good Samaritans, whoever.”

“Things like this kind of bring communities together,” Templeton said. “Neighbors are out checking on neighbors.”

But no one expects a quick fix and the after effects of the storm, like a complete loss of traffic lights across the county and trees in the road, are lingering.

Even though the sun was shining Saturday, Adams said there was still a feeling of chaos.

“People are running into each other. I just passed a wreck,” Adams said. “It’s craziness.”