Over 65K still without power in Lexington County after Helene

South Carolinians, over 1 million of them, are still without power after Hurricane Helene brought heavy rains, strong winds and deadly flash floods throughout the state. 

And Lexington County, according to poweroutage.us, is among the S.C. counties still struggling to get back to normal as of Sept. 28. 

Over 65,000 outages are reported across Lexington County, according to poweroutage.us. 

More specifically, Aiken Electric Cooperative reported 1,594 outages as of Friday morning, Dominion Energy reported 36,651 outages as of Saturday morning, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative reported 26,759 outages as of Saturday morning, Newberry Electric Cooperative reported 341 outages as of Saturday morning and Tri-County Electric Cooperative reported 350 outages as of Saturday morning. 

Duke Energy and Dominion Energy all agreed the power situation will not return to “normal” until the middle of next week, according to reporting from The Sumter Item. 

Gov. Henry McMaster confirmed during Friday's media briefing that there have been four deaths due to the hurricane: two firefighters in Saluda and two residents in Newberry. According to Department of Public Safety Director Robert Woods, all four deaths appear to have been traffic-related. Later, after the media briefing, Biance reported in a news release the number has risen to 19 storm-related deaths, including five in Spartanburg County, four each in Greenville and Aiken counties and two each in Newberry, Anderson and Saluda counties, according to Item reporting.

The Midlands got nearly 15 inches of rain and had wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour, according to John Quagliariello with the National Weather Service.

Here are some reports from Lexington County municipalities: 

WEST COLUMBIA 

"The City of West Columbia’s Carraway Park, 212 Hudson Street, West Columbia, is now open after being closed due to Hurricane Helene. Due to storm debris, all other city parks, including the Riverwalk, remain closed.

Road Closures:

For up-to-date road closure information, visit http://bit.ly/WECORoadClosures.

The following City parks remain closed:

• B Avenue Ball Park

• Bark West Dog Park

• Douglas Reeves Community Park

• Fowler Community Park

• Rosamunda Percell-Butler Community Park

• West Columbia Riverwalk Park and Amphitheater

• Moffatt Street Entrance to the Riverwalk

Who to Call:

Power Outages/Downed/Sparking Lines: 888-333-4465

Gas Leaks: 800-815-0083

Stormwater/Road Issues: 803-359-4103

Non-Emergencies/Trees in Roadway: 803-794-0721."

LEXINGTON

"While power is still be worked on to restore signal lights on Sunset Blvd/US-378, please drive alert as you approach intersections with patrol vehicles that have blue lights on since officers are likely directing traffic in the roadway.

Deirdre Currin of The Sumter Item contributed to this report.