Ice overwhelms utilities
Officials see problems continuing for days
By LAUREN LEACH and DAVE L’HEUREUX
Staff Writers
TIM DOMINICK/THE STATE
Damage in the Midlands associated with this week’s winter storm is being compared to the hit the area took from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, officials say.
The storm that began Sunday still has the state reeling.
Statewide, utilities reported about 253,000 customers were without electricity Tuesday, including about 70,000 in the Midlands.
Most Midlands school districts have called off classes for the third day in a row.
Gov. Mark Sanford issued a statewide state of emergency Tuesday, hours after Columbia Mayor Bob Coble declared a high alert status for the city, marking the first time in 25 years such a declaration was issued for a winter storm.
“Hurricane Hugo would be the only thing approaching this storm in terms of power outages,” Coble said.
“We need to plan for days, not hours, and plan accordingly. ... We want to make sure people realize this is a very serious problem and we need to be aware.”
Coble said the damage to trees was worse than that caused by Hugo. This is the worst winter storm since 1973, he said.
Sanford said the ice storm had surpassed the ability of local governments to respond.
The declaration places the S.C. National Guard on standby and ensures all state employees absent from work on Monday and Tuesday will be paid.
His declaration also means utility trucks from other states can travel in South Carolina without having to stop at weigh stations. SCE&G officials said they have called in workers from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
Columbia hired a private contractor Tuesday to help clear the roads. Department of Transportation workers were out, too, spreading sand and salt on roads.
“We’ll have crews out all night long. ... It’s been a long time since we’ve had something in this area this bad,” DOT director of maintenance Jim Feda said.
Tree limbs broken by the weight of ice continued to sever power lines throughout South Carolina.
SCE&G offered little optimism for a quick restoration of power to all customers, given the changing weather and the chance of further widespread damage:
• By late Tuesday afternoon, SCE&G had a total of 1,200 linemen and tree trimmers on the road to repair the power grid.
• About 120,000 of 560,000 SCE&G’s customers statewide were without power late Tuesday afternoon, down from 150,000 at midday.
• SCE&G reported 45,000 residential and commercial customers in the greater Columbia area were without power late Tuesday, down from 90,000 at midday.
• About 57,000 customers of Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, out of 625,000, were without power as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, down from 86,550 a day earlier.
• About 82,500 of Time Warner Cable’s 170,000 Midlands customers remained without service Tuesday, said Bud Tibshrany, local Time-Warner vice president for communications. About 55,000 of those were in Columbia.
A Time Warner executive said the cable giant hopes to restore all customers no later than Sunday, when the Carolina Panthers meet the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
ADDING UP THE COST
As the ice began to melt Tuesday, the blizzard of insurance claim forms was just beginning.
Allison Wright, executive director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service, said it was still too early to get a good dollar amount estimate, but said she expects the storm to cost South Carolinians several million dollars.
By late afternoon, more than 1,500 insurance claims were filed by South Carolinians covered by the state’s four leading underwriters — State Farm, Allstate, Farm Bureau and Nationwide.
Most clients had auto or home damage caused by downed trees or crashes on the slick roads.
Claims ranged from $1,000 to more than $20,000.
State Farm spokesman Bruce White expected more claims to be reported today and Thursday. To take care of the increased volume, State Farm is bringing in adjusters from other regions.
Allstate spokeswoman Gwen McDaniel and White both said there is a delay in receiving claims because so many residents were still without power.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
Service to and from Columbia Metropolitan Airport should return to normal today, an airport official said.
The airport had several flight cancellations and delays Tuesday, because of poor weather conditions at other airports.
Storm damage at Riverbanks Zoo forced the postponement of the public debut of the two new female koalas. The event had been scheduled for Thursday, but it was delayed to give zoo officials more time to clean up. The zoo was closed on Tuesday and today
But not all the fallout was bad. Hotels and restaurants were filled with customers affected by the power outage.
“We all understand. We went through this with the hurricane (in 1999). For the most part, it’s been kind of smooth,” said Joyce Muller, who manages the Days Inn on Garners Ferry Road.
Staff writers John Drake, J.R. Gonzales, Shelley Hill, Joey Holleman, Bill Robinson, Ellyde Roko, Gina Smith and Ben Werner, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Ice Storm Hits SC
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Posted - 01/28/2004 : 09:47:58
