Nearly 500,000 power customers are still in the dark about a week after Helene hit SC
It has been almost a week since Hurricane Helene lashed South Carolina with powerful winds and heavy rains and there are still about 500,000 power customers who still have not had their service restored.
As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, 490,696 power customers in the Palmetto State were still reporting outages, according to PowerOutage.us. That’s about a sixth of the 2,818,951 customers in South Carolina that are tracked by the outlet.
More than 17,000 of the outages were reported in Richland (4,714) and Lexington (12,583) counties. Overall, there were 34,289 customers in the Midlands reporting they didn’t have power. That doesn’t include the 50,000-plus outages still reported in Aiken County.
The majority of ongoing outages were in the Upstate region of South Carolina.
Dominion Energy said 57,102 of its 820,703 customers were still reporting outages after Helene hit South Carolina last Thursday and Friday. Nearly 9,000 Dominion customers in Richland (4,040) and Lexington (4,862) counties were still in the dark Wednesday morning.
Dominion reported it had restored power to about 380,000 customers who suffered blackouts because of the storm.
Another 110,759 outages were reported by the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, with 17,073 occurring in the Midlands. Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina officials said they have restored power to more than 320,000 (75%) of its customers.
Of the 323,015 outages reported in South Carolina by Duke Energy, 1,835 were in or near the Midlands region.
Back in power
Dominion Energy has released estimated times of restoration of power for its customers in a number of SC counties. Those were:
County | Estimated Time of 95% Restoration |
Abbeville | Active restoration in progress |
Aiken | Active restoration in progress |
Allendale | Thursday, 11 p.m. |
Bamberg | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Barnwell | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Beaufort | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Berkeley | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Calhoun | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Charleston | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Colleton | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Dorchester | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Edgefield | Active restoration in progress |
Fairfield | Friday, 11 p.m. |
Greenwood | Active restoration in progress |
Hampton | Thursday, 11 p.m. |
Jasper | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Kershaw | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Lexington | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
McCormick | Active restoration in progress |
Newberry | Wednesday, 11 p.m. |
Orangeburg | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Richland | Over 95% restored, remaining restorations ongoing |
Saluda | Active restoration in progress |
Union | Thursday, 11 p.m. |
| Midlands counties in italics |
Precautions
South Carolina residents are also encouraged to have a flashlight and extra batteries, and to keep cellphones and mobile devices charged in case the power goes out.
Reporting an outage
To report an outage, customers can go online or call:
▪ Dominion 888-333-4465
▪ Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina 803-796-6060
▪ Santee Cooper 888-769-7688
▪ Duke 800-769-3766
BEHIND THE STORY
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This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 11:08 AM.
