Santee Electric Cooperative reported 44,226 total members affected by Winter Storm Pax that moved through the service area this past Tuesday. Of those outages, about 9,000 were in Clarendon County, 9,000 were in Florence County, about 12,000 were in Georgetown County and about 12,000 were in Williamsburg County, crippling the electric system similar to the devastation that was left by Hurricane Hugo. Most of the outages were caused by ice collecting on limbs and trees that in turn fell across power lines.

Two days prior to the storm, Santee Electric Cooperative employees began meeting to call in assistance to ensure the power is restored as soon as possible. As a result more than 250 extra men are working to get everyone's electricity restored. Offices have been closed for regular business since Wednesday so every resource could be focused on power restoration and office personnel have worked in shifts to answer phones and coordinate restoration efforts. As a result 23,586 members electricity has been restored.

Updates on restoration progress, information on how the restoration process works, being safe around downed power lines and other information can be found on our webpage santee.org and the company's Facebook page.

Just because you may not see our trucks on your road, they are working diligently so they can get back home to many of their family members who are also without electricity. We cannot give an estimate of when power will be restored because every outage is different. Please call 1-888-239-2300 or 1-800-922-1604 to report your outage.