Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency in South Carolina Tuesday, a day after a winter storm put most of the state on ice.
"Our purpose in declaring this state of emergency is twofold -- protecting people from the ill effects of this storm and working to help ensure that folks who have lost power get back online as soon as possible," Sanford said.
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RON COCKERILLE/AP
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Mark Maxey, 17, of Aiken removes his registration card from his 1994 Hyundai on Tuesday after an oak tree fell onto the vehicle in front of his home. A winter storm rolled across South Carolina Monday, downing ice-laden tree limbs and causing power outages.
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Utility crews worked into the night Tuesday to restore electricity to about 253,000 residents, mostly in the Midlands and Upstate. Sanford also pointed to freezing temperatures expected across the state overnight that would make roads slick and dangerous.
The governor's order puts the S.C. National Guard on standby status and waives size and weight restrictions for out-of-state utility vehicles helping to restore power. Seven national guardsmen were called to duty Tuesday -- six in Union to help with law enforcement and one in Sumter --but all were called off duty by early Tuesday night, National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Pete Brooks said.
Most primary roads in the Midlands and Upstate were clear by Tuesday afternoon, but slushy patches remained on secondary roads, said John Legare of the state's Emergency Management Division. "We urge motorists to drive with caution," Legare said.
Much of the Lowcountry escaped the winter storm, but scattered power outages away from the coast sent local crews scurrying to repair lines.
S.C. Electric & Gas Co. spokeswoman Christy Farrell said 150,000 people were without power Tuesday from St. George and Holly Hill to St. Matthews, Columbia and Aiken. Two-thirds of those were in the greater Columbia area.
"The progress has been slow because we are repairing the same lines three or four times," she said. "We get one section clear, and a tree falls not far from there on another section. The good news is we have more than 200 linemen coming from out of state to assist in power restoration."
Restoring power will not happen quickly, Farrell said.
"We can't estimate any length of time before all power is restored," she said. "It will be an extensive period of time."
The threat of strong winds was expected to bring additional outages as ice-laden limbs fall onto power lines, Farrell said.
"Our primary focus is to restore power as quickly as we can but as safely as we can," she said.
Kingstree-based Santee Electric Cooperative reported 17,000 customers without power in Williamsburg, Clarendon and lower Florence counties. The company does not expect to have power completely restored until Thursday afternoon.
Like other utilities, Santee Electric is concentrating on repairing main lines, substations and larger transmission lines before focusing on individual homes, spokeswoman Elissa Swicord said.
Santee Cooper, which serves part of Berkeley County and the Grand Strand, had about 1,500 customers without power in Horry County at the height of the storm Monday, but power was restored by Tuesday, spokesman Willard Strong said.
Berkeley Electric Cooperative had about 800 people without power Monday night in St. Stephen, Pineville, Russellville, Johns Island and Wadmalaw Island, but all power was restored by mid-afternoon Tuesday, spokesman Eddie McKnight said.
Time Warner Cable experienced interrupted digital and Internet service in the Summerville area while all of its services were unavailable in Myrtle Beach and Columbia, cable representative Mary Limehouse said. She did not know how long it would take to restore service.
The weather continued to play havoc with government schedules. The state Education Department canceled professional development training sessions for today and Thursday, and the state Board of Paroles and Pardons canceled today's parole hearings.
Temperatures today are expected to climb into the 50s in the Lowcountry and 40s in the Midlands and Upstate under sunny skies, helping to thaw most of the ice, said meteorologist Paul Yura of the National Weather Service.
"Everything will be nice and dry," he said.
