The National Weather
Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for our area from 10 a.m.
Tuesday until 7 a.m. Thursday with dangerous icing conditions that
will create major impacts including dangerous driving conditions
and widespread power outages.
Though Santee
Electric Cooperative is ready with men and materials to combat
outages, travel will be slow and dangerous for our men as tree
limbs will snap from the weight of the freezing rain and fall onto
power lines. Please be advised that Santee Electric will send crews
out when conditions are safe enough for them to work without
endangering their lives. The repair crews will then be assigned to
the most critical areas first to make them safe for the
public.
If you have elderly or
sick individuals in your home, you need to stay tuned to local
media or contact your county emergency preparedness agency for
shelter information.
If you lose power
during this event, please be patient. Please be aware that during
any power outage, Santee Electric Cooperative crews will restore
power as quickly as possible, beginning with main lines. Santee
Electric crews will be assigned to a pre-determined set of
restoration priorities. It is impossible for our crews to get power
to individual houses first when the main lines, substations or
larger transmission lines are damaged. Essentially, the crews have
to work on the larger electrical equipment first before you can
have power restored to your home.
In addition, there may
be a number of reasons why your neighbor may have power and you do
not. For example, 1) your home may be on a different service cable
or transformer, 2) circuit breakers or fuses in your home could
have tripped, 3) the weight of ice could break power lines or
individual poles, as well as a variety of other causes.
Clarendon County Emergency Services 1-803-435-9310
Florence County Emergency Management Department
1-843-665-7255
Georgetown County Emergency Management Division
1-843-545-3273
Williamsburg County Disaster Preparedness Agency
1-843-354-9330