Thousands lose power across the state as a result of Hurricane Dorian

The bulk of the power outages occurred in Charleston and Berkeley Counties

MANNING, S.C. (WOLO) —Some people living in Clarendon and Sumter Counties are without power due to the heavy wind and rain.

Clarendon County had some reports of down power lines, trees on the roads, and even some stop lights that lost power. Even with all that, some people said they are glad it was not much worse.

“I’m happy because if those lights would have cut off, the house would have been hot, my food in the freezer would have been gone, I would have had to eat snacks for a few days, but you’ve got to be prepared. Sometimes it will come, sometimes it would. You just don’t know, “said Kimberly Quzak, a resident of Manning.

Meanwhile, some wished their friends on their coast well as they recover from the storm.

“We’re just thankful and blessed it wasn’t as bad as it was. I know there’s been a lot of people less fortunate than us and we’re just thankful that things did not turn out any worse than they have,” said David Tindle of Pinewood.

Some were not so lucky. The South Carolina Electric Cooperative says more than 200 people in Clarendon County lost power. Over the last few hour, SCEC says that number has dropped to 103.

Statewide, Dominion Energy had over 160,000 customers without power at noon. That number has since gone down to around 140,000.

Keller Kissam, the President of Electric Operations at Dominion Energy, said he will have crews working around the clock to restore power, but he wants his workers to be safe.

“We’re out there assessing and patrolling the system at this time. We can’t fly our buckets or put them in the air if the winds are greater than 35 miles per hour. Like I said, safety is our number one priority,” Kissam said.

As crews get ready to work on power lines, Kissam says it’s important for people across the state to be patient.

“We will continue to work as we have worked 24/7 until the very last customer has their service restored,” Kissam said.

Kissam says people should not touch any down power lines, avoid driving on flooded roads, and report any outages over the phone or on their app.