BRACK: Give local governments, utilities a pat on the back

Santee Cooper linemen work to restore power after the brunt of Dorian passed. Photos Courtesy Santee Cooper. © All rights reserved.

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  | Two smells provide vivid memories of Hurricane Hugo.  

The first came just after the storm as the resin scent of snapped pine trees filled a car during a drive along Interstate 26 toward Charleston.  The air smelled like an open bottle of Pine-Sol. Days later, thanks to decomposing piles of leaves, molding carpets, rotting food and mildewed garbage, came the overwhelming stink of rot.  

Fresh and clean, followed by cloying decay.

So far, Dorian has left different impressions — the howl of hour upon hour of wind, the thrum of leaf blowers, the whine of chainsaws and the stench of burning leaves by some intrepid residents who must not have been able to abide by piles of yard waste on their streets.

Local governments and power companies have gotten down the drill of managing an effective aftermath of a storm.  For their quick, solid action, local governments and utility crews deserve a big pat on the back.

Within two days, 99 percent of everyone who lost power had it back.  In Charleston County where more than 100,000 of Dominion Energy’s customers lost electricity, only 900 didn’t have power early Sunday.  

“By far, the number one reason for outages throughout this event was damage from trees and  tree limbs,” said Dominion Energy spokesman Paul Fischer, who added the company had more than 2,800 company employees and contractors working to deal with downed trees and restore power.

For Santee Cooper, which supplies power for areas in Georgetown and Horry counties, the Thursday storm knocked out power to about 47,000 commercial and residential customers, 95 percent of whom had power restored by 3 p.m. Saturday.  Some 65 out-of-area crews joined Santee Cooper’s employees to get the lights back on.

Local governments were busy too, not only with preparing for the storm but promptly dealing with the aftermath.

By Saturday afternoon, the city of Charleston’s crews removed more than 100 loads of debris, cleared 138 downed trees and got all but four traffic lights working.  

“Garbage collection will return to its normal schedule on Monday,” according to a press release.  “Due to the amount of storm debris, city trash crews will continue on an emergency debris-only trash schedule through at least the middle of the week. Normal trash collection will resume thereafter.”

To get the latest update for what’s happening in Charleston related to storm cleanup, you can phone the Citizen Services Desk at 843-724-7311 during normal business hours.. New GIS mapping tools allowing citizens to track hurricane-related information in real-time are also available on the city website. 

In Charleston County, you can report damage using the Charleston County Damage Assessment website.  Recycling crews are to resume operations today.

Andy Brack’s new book, “We Can Do Better, South Carolina,” is now available for $14.99 in paperback via Amazon.

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