State leaders in Aiken discussing Hurricane Helene Recovery

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) – South Carolina leaders made a trip to Aiken County to discuss Hurricane Helene on Sunday, September 29.

“We have 1,355 off system resources. These linemen that don’t work here in South Carolina and they’re here. We add that to the 800 that we have that are here every day serving you. And we’ve got an army,” Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam said.

Kissam, Governor Henry McMaster, and several local and state leaders, giving an update on Hurricane Helene.

The storm caused 25 deaths in the state. Residents are asked to stay away from down power lines. Don’t go out and try to cut a tree away from a power line.

“Usually, the lines are under tension if they’re there on that tree. And when you cut those lungs off and it lifts up the weight and it’s gonna spring back. if it spring back, it can take your head off,” he shared. Also, medical personnel “had a number of visits of folks with carbon monoxide poisoning to some of the various hospitals around South Carolina.,” he added. “Do not run a generator inside. Don’t have a grill inside. That’s something you need to do outside in that regard.”

The storm, compared to Hugo, knocked out power for more than a million customers.

“Hugo was a category four when it hit Charleston. This was a category four when it hit Tallahassee,” he said. “All the damage that you saw from McClellanville to up to Charlotte after Hugo. This is what you see from Barnwell all the way up to McCormick and then up to Greenville, Spartanburg.”

More than 300 thousand customers’ power has been restored. Trees tangled in power lines are making it tricky to restore service.

“We have deployed people from all over the state, from our coastal areas into the Midlands, into the upstate. And we’ll continue that along with all of our state law enforcement partners, and DNR,” Transportation Secretary Justin Powell said.

Kissam shared that a helicopter equipped with a saw is used to clear trees from transmission lines.

The restoration work is prioritized: first, restoring transmission lines, then the substations that supply power to neighborhoods.

“Then we’ll focus on the main feeders and we’ll get the filling stations, the restaurants, the grocery stores back to return people’s lives back to normal,” he said.

Aiken Electric Cooperative, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Gary Stooksbury said that the company has 29 substations, but 27 lost transmission service due to the storm.

Only two substations near Orangeburg were less affected and remained powered. The company has set up a command and storm restoration center, housing personnel from out of state to assist with restoration efforts.

“We’ve got a small army working. We have people sleeping in our offices. My administrative assistant is sleeping in her office this week. Our objective is We are going to get your lights back on.,” he said.

Crews from various agencies, including National Guard, Department of Transportation, Highway Patrol, DNR, Dominion Energy and Aiken Electric Cooperative, have been working around the clock since the Hurricane.

“They’ll be working closely with the state’s law enforcement, division chiefs,” Governor McMaster added.

They went into 24-hour operations on Thursday, staying through the storm and starting to clear once the winds died down.

“We have been augmenting and adding in resources from eastern half of the state, as well as contractors in the counties like Aiken, Edgefield, and the upstate as well,” Powell said. “We’re now focusing on our primary routes. That’s a SC 19, that’s a US one. We focus on those roads, which carry about half of the state’s traffic.”

Agencies are pooling resources with personnel deployed from across the state to assist in recovery efforts. Information about road conditions, open gas stations, and power restoration will be passed along soon.

“It’s just going to take some time. We’re working to have a system up where you can go online,” the Governor added.

Leaders addressed rumors circulating on social media about assistance sent to Florida and the status of linemen. They clarified that before Hurricane Helena hit, a mutual assistance call was made to request linemen for South Carolina.

“So maybe people saw bucket trucks going to Florida, but they were coming from other northern states that had nothing to be in the path of this,” Kissam added.

Meanwhile, officials are asking for patience as recovery efforts continue. For information on road conditions and closures after Hurricane Helene, call 1-855-GO-SCDOT.

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