Category: Weather

The School District of Oconee County will be closed on Tuesday, October 1st. No students or employees will report to buildings, now will it be an eLearning Day. Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland: “After assessing the status of power outages and road conditions this morning, it is clear that we will not be in a place that school is possible for […]

Pickens County Council extended its state of emergency for 30 days due to the ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. County Administrator Ken Roper addressed the Council during a special called meeting on Monday… Despite no major injuries or deaths, the storm caused significant damage, with over 3,100 emergency calls received in just one day. The county has activated its […]

The OJRSA continues to manage wastewater treatment and storage following recent flooding. Due to potential contamination, residents and pets should avoid contact with local creeks and waterbodies. Customers should report any wastewater overflows to the OJRSA. The Coneross Creek Water Reclamation Facility is operating with minor issues, and stored flow is being treated gradually. The Duck Pond Pump Station has […]

South Carolina has secured federal funding to support Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. Governor Henry McMaster announced that the state’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration has been approved, providing critical resources to supplement local and state recovery initiatives. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized Individual Assistance for residents in 13 counties, offering financial aid for uninsured damages. Additionally, […]

Columbia, S.C. (September 30, 2024)— The South Carolina Department of Transportation is not slowing down on storm recovery and is continuing to focus on clearing roadways throughout the state. SCDOT asks that if you encounter our crews or other first responders, slow down and give them room to work. Pay attention to signs and barricades and never move or drive around them. You […]

PICKENS, South Carolina — More than half of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members have now had power restored following the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene. Since Friday, over 35,000 members have had their power restored. Damage assessments have confirmed over 511 broken poles, leaving approximately 29,126 members without power. This represents 39 percent of our membership. The number of broken poles we have recorded is devastating. It’s the most we’ve […]

Outdoor burning restriction stretches from Aiken to Richland to York counties, westward COLUMBIA—The South Carolina Forestry Commission will issue a State Forester’s Burning Ban for 20 counties, effective at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1. The counties subject to the burning ban include those with infrastructure affected most dramatically by damage from Hurricane Helene: Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, […]

***TWO SUBSTATIONS REMAIN OFFLINE; 450 POLES BROKEN*** PICKENS, South Carolina — Two of the 13 substations that lost transmission service remain offline Monday due to severe damage. Overnight, Duke Energy made progress on the transmission lines that remain out and energize approximately 3,500 members serviced by the Cross Roads and Tygerville substations. Substations to the Bountyland, Corinth, Newry, Six Mile, […]

PICKENS, South Carolina — Power has been restored to over 27,000 Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members since Tropical Storm Helene devastated our service area. An estimated 51 percent of our members (approximately 37,550 in total) remain without service, down from a peak of 90 percent on Friday morning. This remains a multi-day outage recovery operation. Below are specific outage numbers by county: Anderson: 4,302 Greenville: 4,359 Oconee: 15,278 Pickens: 13,491 Spartanburg: 43