Strand picks up limbs after storm

Winter weather crippled much of South Carolina this week, and officials predicted inland Horry and Georgetown county residents would wake up to more problems this morning if anticipated strong winds blast through the area overnight.

Gov. Mark Sanford declared South Carolina in state of emergency because of what he called a "serious storm."

The blast of winter weather snarled roads, downed power lines, closed schools, and canceled meetings and sporting events in the Carolinas, although the coastal zones fared far better than their inland neighbors.

Widespread power outages and icy roads Tuesday closed schools in western Horry County and six schools in Aynor and the Green Sea Floyds area will remain closed today. Thirteen other schools in and around Conway and Loris will be on a two-hour delay today.

Officials feared the windy conditions from an air mass moving this way across the Appalachian Mountains could snap ice-covered trees and power lines in some areas, exacerbating already widespread power outages, said Richard Kreitner, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

"You could see much more damage ... from westerly winds at 10 to 15 mph," Kreitner said.

Brunswick County schools and businesses are expected to return to their schedules while temperatures rise to the mid-40s. Schools operated on a two-hour delay Tuesday because many secondary roads were icy early in the day. One government meeting was canceled because of conditions, but officials said they escaped the most damaging effects of the storm.

The Horry County Red Cross opened a shelter at the M.L. Brown Building in Conway, but no one had checked in by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials said they will continue to monitor conditions, and utility crews were on standby to respond to any outages reported.

The conditions posed a challenge for emergency and school officials who must make decisions on conditions that can vary widely between the coastal and inland areas.

"The coastal areas escaped for the most part with just a light icing," Kreitner said. The ocean "modifies the climate event; so the closer to shore you get," the warmer conditions will be, even if only slightly.

The icy weather blanketed inland portions of the Carolinas as well as Georgia and Virginia before moving into Maryland and Delaware. That system, which left more than an inch of freezing rain in some parts of Horry and Georgetown counties and left thousands without power, is expected to collide with another low pressure system over the Northeast. Once the storms merge, as much as 14 inches of snow is expected in parts of New Jersey and New York's Catskills.

Since the weekend, at least 46 deaths from Kansas to the Carolinas have been blamed on the storm. No local deaths were blamed on the storm, but six traffic fatalities in the state were linked to the icy conditions. Six deaths in North Carolina also were attributed to the weather.

An estimated 220,000 customers lost power Tuesday morning in South Carolina, along with nearly 40,000 in North Carolina and 58,000 in Georgia, utilities reported. Locally, power was restored to most residents by 5 p.m. Tuesday, with spotty outages remaining. Jill Watts with Santee Cooper said some outages remained because electricians were needed to repair equipment inside the homes.

Santee Cooper reported about 1,500 customers affected during the event, while Horry Electric Cooperative reported about 7,000 customers without power.

Nearly the entire town of Aynor was in the dark for 24 hours until noon Tuesday, when crews had most of the electricity restored, Mayor John Dawsey said.

"As fast as [utility crews] could get the power back up, [lines] were falling right behind them," Dawsey said.

Many Santee Electric Cooperative residents also were without power in Georgetown County. At 8 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 20,000 customers of the company - which includes Georgetown, Florence, Williamsburg and Clarendon counties - were without power.

Some Horry Telephone Cooperative phone and cable customers in the Loris, Aynor and north Conway areas experienced interruptions in service because of the power outages. Also about 60,000 Time Warner Cable customers lost digital cable or high-speed internet access service Tuesday.

No major weather-related wrecks had been reported locally, S.C. Highway Patrol Senior Trooper Ashley Mew said.

"I think a lot of people heeded the warning and stayed off the roads," Mew said. "The roads are still slick in spots, and there's ice on some bridges; so folks need to stay in unless it's a necessity."

Dawsey, who canceled a Town Council meeting Monday because of icy roads, said the town sustained "the brunt of this thing."

"If we get any strong winds [Tuesday night] with these tree tops heavy and the ground moist, we will be in trouble, because I don't know what will happen," Dawsey said.

No major emergencies occurred during the storm, but Horry County firefighters were kept busy with calls related to downed trees, limbs and power lines, said Chief Gary Alderman of Horry County Fire Rescue.

In Horry and Georgetown counties, officials predictToday | Sunny with a high temperature in the 40s with westerly winds 15 to 20 mph, clear night with a low in the 20s.

Thursday | Cloudy with highs in the 50s and an overnight low in the mid-30s

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Storm covers East Coast with ice | 10A