South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette visit Edgefield County following damage from Helene

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette visit Edgefield County following damage from Helene

Written by Graham Lee. Originally posted by WJBF Channel 6 on October 4, 2024.

EDGEFIELD, SC. (WJBF)- After visiting Aiken County earlier this week, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster back in the CSRA today. 

He joined Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and several local leaders in Edgefield County. 

The governor says Aiken and Edgefield counties have more power outages than any other counties in the Palmetto State. 

53% of Edgefield residents are still without power—that number for Aiken is down to 32%. 

The last time South Carolina saw a storm of this magnitude was Hurricane Hugo 35 years ago…the governor says Helene’s impacts are far worse. 

McMaster says 1.3 million power customers were without power last Friday—he says that number has now dropped to 272,290. 

“It’s great progress, but we need to make more—particularly in Aiken and Edgefield counties,” the governor added. 

Senator Lindsey Graham paid a visit to Aiken County Thursday afternoon, where he promised county leaders that help from FEMA is on the way. 

McMaster said the same to county leaders in Edgefield, while also sharing the tremendous job communities are doing to support each other statewide.

“We’ve had the National Guard, the State Guard, troops helping, military, law enforcement—charities, churches, Salvation Army, Red Cross: everyone has been phenomenal,” McMaster said. “That is the South Carolina spirit that most people around the country never get to experience.”

He also told reporters that 18 counties around the state are now eligible for individual assistance through FEMA. 

Those counties include Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Edgefield, Greenwood, Greenville, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Pickens, Saluda, Spartanburg, Abbeville, Oconee, Richland and Union. 

The governor says with the help here and more on the way, patience is key.

“We’re going to fix this, and it’s going to get better. We ask people to have patience, as some places—including here—deep rebuilding is required. It’s going to take a little bit longer than some people think,” said McMaster. “But the companies are working hard to see that this is corrected, and that our people are safe and comfortable as quickly as possible.”