Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction in upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina on Friday morning, leaving over a million customers without power.As of Saturday morning, approximately a million customers are still without power in the Upstate.Duke Energy stated due to the severity of damage experienced and ongoing flooding challenges, it expects a multi-day restoration effort.Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative said, "Hurricane Helene came with damaging winds and rain that brought down many trees, leaving over 60,000 Blue Ridge members without power. It will be several days before all restoration is complete."Laurens Electric Cooperative Inc. gave an update on the widespread outages on Friday evening in a post on Facebook: "Restoration efforts are ongoing as crews work into Friday evening to respond to unprecedented damage to our power grid caused by Tropical Storm Helene. As of 7 p.m. tonight, approximately 90% of our members are without power and only 3 of 34 substations are operational."The greatest challenge facing the cooperative is the service interruption to these substations, which remain offline due to transmission issues related to Duke Energy. Transmission lines, which function as the main arteries of our power grid, feed these substations — crucial hubs that distribute power to our members. Until these transmission lines are restored, power to the substations will remain out."According to the latest report, Duke may be able to provide us an estimate for restoring power to their transmission lines by Saturday, late in the day."In addition to power lines, communication lines are down in our area, complicating the use of technology like our outage map and text notification system. The best way to report a power outage is by calling (864) 682-3141 and selecting the prompt to use our automated reporting system," LEC said.The electric company continued, "Hundreds of personnel are working throughout our seven-county service area, removing and replacing broken power poles, cutting away trees, and preparing infrastructure for the moment power starts flowing again. Crews from other co-ops in different states are mobilizing to help with restoration work. Efforts will continue through the weekend and into next week. Many of our members may remain without power for days. If a member is without power and suffers from a life-threatening medical condition requiring electricity, we urge them to find alternate accommodations if at all possible and call 911 in the event of a medical emergency."
Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction in upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina on Friday morning, leaving over a million customers without power.
As of Saturday morning, approximately a million customers are still without power in the Upstate.
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Duke Energy stated due to the severity of damage experienced and ongoing flooding challenges, it expects a multi-day restoration effort.
Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative said, "Hurricane Helene came with damaging winds and rain that brought down many trees, leaving over 60,000 Blue Ridge members without power. It will be several days before all restoration is complete."
Laurens Electric Cooperative Inc. gave an update on the widespread outages on Friday evening in a post on Facebook:
"Restoration efforts are ongoing as crews work into Friday evening to respond to unprecedented damage to our power grid caused by Tropical Storm Helene. As of 7 p.m. tonight, approximately 90% of our members are without power and only 3 of 34 substations are operational.
"The greatest challenge facing the cooperative is the service interruption to these substations, which remain offline due to transmission issues related to Duke Energy. Transmission lines, which function as the main arteries of our power grid, feed these substations — crucial hubs that distribute power to our members. Until these transmission lines are restored, power to the substations will remain out.
"According to the latest report, Duke may be able to provide us an estimate for restoring power to their transmission lines by Saturday, late in the day.
"In addition to power lines, communication lines are down in our area, complicating the use of technology like our outage map and text notification system. The best way to report a power outage is by calling (864) 682-3141 and selecting the prompt to use our automated reporting system," LEC said.
The electric company continued, "Hundreds of personnel are working throughout our seven-county service area, removing and replacing broken power poles, cutting away trees, and preparing infrastructure for the moment power starts flowing again. Crews from other co-ops in different states are mobilizing to help with restoration work. Efforts will continue through the weekend and into next week. Many of our members may remain without power for days. If a member is without power and suffers from a life-threatening medical condition requiring electricity, we urge them to find alternate accommodations if at all possible and call 911 in the event of a medical emergency."
