Category: Weather

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

Duke Energy’s Hurricane Helene recovery restores power to more than 1.1 million in South and North Carolina; downed trees, blocked roadways, damaged and destroyed power equipment impeding efforts in the S.C. Upstate region and N.C. mountains Approximately 904,000 customers, primarily in the S.C. Upstate and N.C. Mountains, remain without power as of 6 p.m. Nearly all customers outside of the S.C. Upstate and […]

Coroners in the Upstate are reporting several fatalities connected to Hurricane Helene. In Anderson County, two women, Christine Schmeiske, 55, and Sandy Lee Fisher, 54, lost their lives when trees fell onto their homes. The body of Karen Denise McCall, 60, was recovered from her submerged vehicle after it was swept into a river by floodwaters. Drones assisted in locating […]

PICKENS, South Carolina — As of 5 p.m., power has been restored to another 6,775 member locations since daybreak. An estimated 57 percent of our members (approximately 41,975 in total) remain without service. Six of our substations remain out of service due to problems with Duke Energy’s transmission lines. Below are specific outage numbers by county: Anderson: 5,975 Greenville: 5,475 […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Henry McMaster today requested an Expedited Major Presidential Disaster Declaration to assist state and local response efforts to Hurricane Helene. The Presidential Disaster Declaration, if approved, would provide FEMA Individual Assistance Program help to residents impacted by the storm in Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Lexington, Oconee, Newberry, Pickens, Saluda, and Spartanburg counties. The request also includes categories A, B, and […]

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President Zach Hinton addressed members today about ongoing multi-day restoration efforts throughout our five-county service area. A link to the video can be found here. We will continue to provide updates today. TRANSCRIPT OF FULL REMARKS “I’ve had an opportunity to talk to several Blue Ridge Electric employees who have 40-plus […]

The School District of Oconee County will be closed on Monday, September 30th. No students or employees will report to buildings. (It will not be an eLearning Day)   Board of Trustees Special Called Board Meeting for 9/30 has been cancelled.   From Dr. Michael Thorsland:   “We know that many families and employees still do not have power and […]

PICKENS, South Carolina — As of 9:45 a.m., an estimated 66 percent of our members (approximately 48,750 in total) remain without service. Below are specific outage numbers by county: Anderson: 6,148 Greenville: 5,538 Oconee: 17,203 Pickens: 19,808 Spartanburg: 43 We intend to release a video update around midday, which you are welcome to share with your audiences.