The National Weather
Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for our area from noon
Tuesday until 6 p.m. Wednesday. We are expecting snow, sleet and
freezing rain with accumulations of snow and sleet that may exceed
3 inches. With temperatures below freezing, this may produce heavy
ice on trees and power lines causing outages.
Though Santee
Electric Cooperative is ready with men and materials to combat any
outages we may have, travel will be slow and dangerous for our men.
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