South Carolina Faces Unprecedented Damage from Hurricane Helene
YORK COUNTY, S.C. – Hurricane Helene has left a significant mark on South Carolina, with thousands of residents left without power for over three days. The aftermath of the storm has caused school closures in districts such as Rock Hill, Clover, and York District One, as recovery efforts are ongoing.
Along SC Hwy 161 in York County, power crews are racing against time, installing new power poles that toppled during the severe winds of Helene. Shannon Littleton, a foreman for York Electric Cooperative, explained, “You change the tension on one pole, and it gets to be too much, and it falls and then the next one and the next one.” This cascading failure caused widespread damage across the region.
Damage Comparison to Hurricane Hugo
According to Porter Gable from York Electric Cooperative, the destruction is unparalleled in recent memory. “This is unprecedented for the state of South Carolina,” Gable said. In comparison, during Hurricane Hugo, 20,000 power meters were affected. Currently, with the growth in utility services, over 34,000 power meters are out due to Helene. As teams work tirelessly to restore service, the linemen have been clocking 18 to 19 hours a day.
Littleton shared his personal struggle, stating, “I also lost power at my home, and it was restored two days after the storm. It’s tough to go to work and go home in the dark, but we gotta do what we gotta do.” Meanwhile, areas like Clover are gradually seeing some restoration, with still about 7,000 families without power as of Monday morning.
Community Support and Recovery Efforts
In the town of Clover, resident Charity Upchurch praised the community’s support during this tough time. “The community really comes together and helps people,” she said. “There are a lot of resources that are going on in the town, and people are able to reach out on social media and say, ‘Hey, I need [this or that].’”
Yesterday, workers from York Electric reported more than 70 broken poles across their service area, with each repair taking between two to four hours. The teams are committed to restoring power as soon as possible, and the goal is to have at least a majority of service restored by the end of the day on Monday. Areas still experiencing outages may take a bit longer due to the extent of the damage.
For many, the road to recovery is a shared endeavor, with crews from neighboring states, including Alabama, Florida, and Oklahoma, joining efforts to restore power as fast as possible. “It gets overwhelming,” said Littleton, but the focus remains on getting service back for everyone in the community.
