Helene kills at least 29 in South Carolina, $14M worth of damage reported, officials say

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — South Carolina’s slow recovery from Tropical Storm Helene continued Monday as thousands more people have had power restored and hundreds of roads reopened.

But the state’s death toll is mounting and likely will get even higher, Gov. Henry McMaster said at a Monday news conference where he reported 29 storm-related fatalities.

“We ask you to keep those families and their loved ones in your prayers,” McMaster said. As of Monday afternoon, just more than 745,000 of the state’s three million meters remained offline, utility officials said.

“Progress is slow once again. One of the things that’s slowing us down are the chokepoints. We’ve got all these electrical lines down. The soil is wet. The trees went over, so we have power lines tangled up with trees and limbs,” McMaster said. “We have lots of chainsaws ready to go, and more are coming.”

Kim Stenson, the state’s emergency management director, said preliminary reports show 539 damaged homes across 14 counties — 21 of them destroyed.

He said public costs lodged by 36 counties have the total at $14 million.

Back on the Grand Strand and Pee Dee, public agencies have sent dozens of workers to the Upstate.

• North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue has 10 crews in the Greenville area to help with station coverage and rescue operations
• Horry County has 40 employees from its code enforcement, emergency management, fire rescue, public information, public works and stormwater departments working on disaster relief in Anderson, Greenville, Pickens and Saluda counties
• Myrtle Beach Fire Department’s members of the state Urban Search and Rescue team were deployed to help with operations in Pickens and Greenville counties.
• Marion County Animal Shelter is holding a supply drive all week at ats 123 Dog and Cat Court facility.

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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