Personal Injury Attorney in Laurens, SC

Early voters are casting ballots for this year’s General Election in record numbers across the state and nation, and Laurens County is no different.

More than 8,000 ballots had been cast in the county as of Tuesday afternoon, a significantly higher number than around 6,000 no-excuse absentee and early votes cast in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

“We were ready,” said Lynne West, executive director of the Laurens County Board of Elections and Voter Registration. “We have five or six windows open, more than 18 voting machines and four or five curbside voting machines.”

She said the normal wait time to vote at the county’s voter registration office at 105 Bolt Drive in Laurens has been no more than 15-20 minutes

“Most of our wait times are shorter than that,” West said.

Early voting began on Oct. 21, and West said the heavy turnout began immediately and has remained steady ever since.

Statewide, more than 735,000 people voted early between Oct. 21-26, compared to 561,600 people in 2022.

“We are excited to witness such a strong turnout of early voters making their voices heard,” said Howie Knapp, executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission (SEC), “We expect continued record-breaking participation as we enter the second week of early voting.”

The Laurens County Voter Registration and Elections office will be open for early voting from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. each day through Saturday. After early voting closes at 6 p.m. Saturday, voters will have to wait until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to cast their ballots.

On Election Day, no votes can be cast at the county’s Bolt Drive offices. Voters must vote then at their individual precincts.

West said the turnout for early voting should things run a bit more smoothly on Election Day.

“It helps relieve some of the stress o hour resources,” she said. “It should help poll workers and voters both. We will deploy all the equipment we have to help things run as well as possible.”

Voters can find their precincts and view sample ballots online at scvotes.gov. Voters will be asked to present a photo ID when checking in to vote.

West also reminded voters that no campaign materials, including hats, shirts and buttons are allowed within 500 feet of any polling location.

LAURENS COUNTY, S.C. —

Hundreds of utility poles are broken in Laurens County, especially in the more rural parts of the area. The damage is creating a challenge for crews to restore power so it could be a long road ahead for those living there.

According to Laurens County officials, 63% of the county is still without power. WYFF News 4 spoke with one of the service providers, Laurens Electric Cooperative, which services about 20,000 in the county. The company reports that 43% of its customers are still without power. It could be a long road ahead before some residents receive power.

"In our rural communities, I would plan into the weekend and possibly later. We don't like that, but the sheer destruction that we have to repair, the damage that has to be repaired, the miles of circuit, the amount of poles that have to be replaced with a storm like this, it's just going to take that much time to get this done," said Jim Donahoo, spokesperson for Laurens Electric Cooperative.

Crystal Chapman, who lives in Lauren's County, got power over the weekend, but the rest of her neighborhood is still without power. Recently, the lack of power created a barrier for her son.

"He has asthma and had an asthma flare. I couldn't find a doctor's office open yesterday -- the phones weren't going through and I reached out to someone who works with the doctor's office, and they are still without power today," said Chapman.

According to Chapman, the stores with power do not have many products in stock.

"I personally know a girl with a baby that is begging; no diapers, no wipes and no milk," Chapman said.

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Chapman said she is thankful for nonprofits and local churches helping out.

"They had a delicious meal that me and my son got: spaghetti and a roll. We are so thankful for that. So that will get us through today; I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," said Chapman. Uncertainty still lingers with other necessities. "It's been hard to get gas."

Laurens County officials say the availability of gas is improving but they are monitoring the situation.

In the midst of her frustration, Chapman remembers the hard work done each day by utility crews. "Thank you for all that you're doing. We do appreciate you," said Chapman.

Similar struggles are seen in Abbeville County. County officials say 50% to 60% of residents are still without power. In both Laurens and Abbeville counties, damage assessments are underway to be submitted to the state to receive federal assistance.

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Governor Henry McMaster has requested an emergency declaration from the White House and has identified counties in South Carolina in need of FEMA assistance.

According to Laurens Mayor Nathan Senn, Laurens County has been included on the list and will receive FEMA funds for local government entities.

There’s also a list of counties approved for individuals to apply for FEMA assistance. Laurens County is not currently on that list but Senn said this is because the assessment hasn’t been completed yet.

“We sent out crews this morning to collect data to show the threshold of mass destruction and once completed, our county could potentially be added to that list,” Senn said. “You may likely see volunteers in your yard, taking pictures of damage and they are here to help you. We want to qualify for that assistance and we need documentation to accomplish that.”

Senn said as of Sunday evening, just under 3,000 households were still without power but more than 3,000 have had power restored.

“CPW is working on getting blocks up and running and it’s a little easier the closer to the city center you are because the outlining areas have a lot more trees down. It looks like a war zone through here,” Senn said.

After Helene tore through Laurens County, the first order of business was to get the water and sewer treatment plant up and running so everyone would have clean drinking water.

From there, crews were able to get electricity to the downtown restaurants and then began working on residential neighborhoods and side streets.

“We know people may not have food they can eat in their fridge but giving them a place to go to get fresh food will help,” Senn said. “A lot of our restaurants are back up and running.”

Senn said crews from Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, Missouri and Ohio are in the city working to get power back to everyone as soon as possible.

“To my understanding, we have more out of state crews here than anywhere else in the state. They are doing a really good job of getting everything lit up. It’s important for people to understand if there’s lines down, they are not necessarily power lines,” Senn said.

Cable and telephone lines will be handled separately after electricity is restored.

The city was able to conduct normal trash pickup where possible but schools will remain closed through their fall break and city offices will remain closed for now, in part, due to safety hazards.

“Everything is still closed because we have fallen trees. The ground is soft and there’s a potential for more to fall,” Senn said. “There are still downed power lines and trees blocking numerous roads all over the city. If a house were to catch on fire, it would be difficult for a large fire truck to access it. We don’t want to have a lockdown but we ask everyone to avoid unnecessary trips to cruise around town.”

Most of all, Senn requests the people of Laurens to remain patient. Water and trash service is running, electricity is restored or soon will be and there is no shortage of supplies.

LAURENS COUNTY, S.C. —

Laurens County, South Carolina, officials on Monday released new information on the county's effort to secure state and federal assistance for damage resident incurred from Tropical Storm Helene.

(Above video is the latest South Carolina news conference from Monday afternoon.)

FEMA announced earlier on Monday that federal disaster assistance is available to the state of South Carolina to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene from Sept. 25, 2024 and continuing. Read more about that here.

Laurens County was not listed among the counties to receive FEMA assistance.

Below is the full statement from Laurens County officials explaining what comes next:

"After working non-stop through the weekend ensuring life and safety needs were attended to, Laurens County officials, staff, and volunteers gathered today to coordinate the initial property damage assessment process following the recent severe storm that impacted the area. The meeting with South Carolina Emergency Management and Laurens County Emergency Management covered key details about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) thresholds for public assistance, as well as the classification criteria for assessing damages to homes and businesses. Residents should expect to see assessors out in various areas beginning today through this week.

"County Administrator Thomas Higgs explained, 'This is a true team effort as we work to document the impact across Laurens County. Our local damage assessment teams, comprised of staff from various departments as well as volunteers, will be the eyes and ears on the ground in the days ahead.'

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"The teams will be classifying damages, which will help determine the overall impact and potential eligibility for state and federal disaster assistance programs. Residents are encouraged to work with the assessment teams as they canvass neighborhoods.

"In addition to the damage assessments, county officials have coordinated with the South Carolina Emergency Division to provide the public with supplies tentatively beginning Wednesday, October 2nd. MREs, water, and tarps will be available for drive-thru pickup between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the Voter Registration parking lot (105 Bolt Drive, in Laurens). We will notify the public when the items are available.

"'This is a challenging time for our community and all of our county teams as well as municipal and utility partners have been working nonstop to take care of the needs of Laurens County citizens,' said County Council Chairman Brown Patterson. 'By working together with our community, we can accomplish more and work toward recovering from this devastating storm.'

"Our federal and state counterparts are assisting us with these efforts.

"The First Methodist Church located at 244 W. Main Street in Laurens is currently serving as a shelter for those in need. The church will remain open until 8 a.m. tomorrow, Oct. 1, at which time the Ridge at 301 Exchange Drive will serve as the shelter location.

"Laurens County will continue to provide updates when possible."

According to the state’s Office of Regulatory Staff, as of Friday afternoon, nearly 1.25 million power outages were caused by Hurricane Helene's effects across South Carolina.

In the Upstate, more than 160,000 households and businesses were without power during the Category 3 storm.

At an afternoon press conference alongside Gov. Henry McMaster, officials from energy companies across the state said that it is hard to make an exact statement about when households and businesses will have power back, but it could be as late as mid-next week.

As many are still without power, here is how Upstate-based energy entities are deploying resources to ensure our area is fully powered again:

More:Helene in South Carolina updates: 9 deaths reported in Upstate; thousands without power

Duke Energy updates their plan of action to restore power during Hurricane Helene

On Friday, Sept. 27, around 1:45 p.m., Duke Energy updated its social media channels with information on restoring power as quickly as possible.

Their communications team cited a five-step process, which includes reestablishing equipment and operating lines, ensuring power at essential buildings such as hospitals and emergency centers, and then into the largest customer areas, smaller neighborhoods, and businesses.

In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Mike Callahan, president of Duke Energy, said, “This storm has caused significant and perhaps historic damage to the Duke Energy System in counties like Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Ryan Mosier provided a look at the damages Duke Energy workers are working through to restore power throughout the Upstate:

More:Here's a list of shelters open in the Upstate for people displaced by Hurricane Helene

Laurens Electric to bring in other energy co-ops to help with Hurricane Helene restoration

According to a mid-morning update from Laurens Electric Cooperative, at Hurricane Helene's peak, around 98 percent of their service territory had lost power, and outages could take hours or days to resolve.

Their service team was awaiting Duke Energy's transmission lines to be brought back online to begin restoration efforts in the area:

Laurens Electric Cooperative crews will first travel to substations to make repairs, then to distribution lines, tap lines, and individual service lines that run between servers and between the transformer and each home.

In total, their energy company supplies more than 60,000 residents with energy annually. It will send 17 crews of line workers and contact other cooperatives to bring additional crews if needed.

As of 4:30 p.m. on Friday evening, around 44,000 customers were still affected by power outages serviced through Laurens Electric Cooperative.

More:Greenville, Anderson, Spartanburg schools e-learning; Clemson closed, USC Upstate virtual

Blue Ridge Electric bringing in assistance from Virigina, Maryland to restore power after Hurricane Helene

According to communications from Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, their team has dispatched 216 line workers to assess damage across Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg counties.

Nearly 88% of their customers — about 64,100 people — have not regained power as of Friday afternoon.

According to a company spokesperson, 17 additional workers from Virginia and Maryland will arrive Friday afternoon to assist.

Who to call if your power is out

Duke Energy customers who are experiencing electrical outages or have seen any fallen power line damages due to Hurricane Helene are encouraged to call 800-796-3766. Customers can also text "OUT" to 57801 to report outages or by Duke Energy mobile phone application.

For the most recent updates on Duke Energy outages, visit: https://www.duke-energy.com/outages

Helene brings Upstate 55 mph winds:Hurricane Helene brings Upstate 55 mph winds, and more than 160,000 without power

Laurens Electric Cooperative encourages customers without power to call 864-682-3141, text 'OUTAGE' to 800-942-3141, or use the LEConnect mobile phone application.

For recent updates on Laurens Electric Cooperative outages, visit: https://laurenselectric.com

— Savannah Moss contributed to this article

– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and downtown culture for The Greenville News. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on X (formally Twitter) @ajhappened. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.Sign up today for a digital subscription.