Power restored quickly in Midlands, but thousands across SC still without electricity
Power companies have restored electricity to more than 60 percent of the S.C. customers who lost power during Hurricane Florence, officials said Sunday morning, but thousands still remain in the dark, especially in the northeastern part of the state.
As of 6:30 a.m. Sunday, 60,233 S.C. customers remained without power, down from a peak of 174,000 on Saturday, according to the S.C. Emergency Management Division.
“The power companies have been doing a really great job,” said Kim McLeod, public information coordinator for SCEMD.
In Richland County, more than 5,000 were without power at one point, according to SCE&G’s website. However, that number dropped below 1,000 as of 10:40 p.m. Saturday, and was hovering around 250 as of 4 a.m. Sunday, including figures reported by the S.C. Electric Cooperatives.
In Lexington County, fewer than 50 outages were reported across SCE&G and the S.C. Electric Cooperatives as of early Sunday. The majority of outages in the Midlands were related to downed branches and high winds, with the area experiencing little in the way of flooding.
The areas most impacted by loss of power continue to be Horry County, where the Horry Electric Cooperative is reporting more than 7,500 customers without power, and Dillon County, where Duke Energy is reporting more than 6,500 without electricity and the Pee Dee Electric Cooperative is reporting 2,000 more.
As of 6:30 a.m. Sunday:
▪ Santee Cooper reported 4,163 customers affected.
▪ The S.C. Electric Cooperatives reported roughly 19,643 outages.
▪ Duke Energy had approximately 34,572 customers without electricity.
▪ SCE&G reported roughly 45 outages.
To report an outage
▪ SCE&G: 888-333-4465
▪ Duke Energy: 800-419-6356
▪ Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative: 803-749-6444
▪ Santee Cooper: 888-769-7688
This story was originally published September 15, 2018 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Power restored quickly in Midlands, but thousands across SC still without electricity."