Without power, grocery stores lost all their cold/frozen inventory.
                                 Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

Without power, grocery stores lost all their cold/frozen inventory.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Dry goods going fast as residents purchase what they can.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Dry goods going fast as residents purchase what they can.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Market at the Mill in Pickens.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Market at the Mill in Pickens.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>A fallen tree at East End Elem.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

A fallen tree at East End Elem.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Roads are blocked from fallen trees and downed power lines.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Roads are blocked from fallen trees and downed power lines.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Downed trees were a common sight.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Downed trees were a common sight.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Lines for gas blocking traffic.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Lines for gas blocking traffic.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>A tree on a house on Highland Road in Easley.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

A tree on a house on Highland Road in Easley.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

<p>Thousands remain without power.</p>
                                 <p>Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress</p>

Thousands remain without power.

Kasie Strickland | The Easley Progress

EASLEY — In the aftermath of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene, thousands of Pickens County residents are still without power.

Fallen trees have blocked roads, crashed through homes and power lines and have generally uprooted life as we know it.

Bridges have washed away. Homes and businesses have flooded. People are pleading online for generators to power their dialysis and oxygen machines.

Blue Ridge Electric reported on Sunday multi-day outages remain expected, as nearly 1 million customers throughout the 11-county Upstate region are still without power.

“Our shift change happened before daybreak, and crews have continued to assess and repair our grid after this historic damage,” a spokesperson said.

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President Zach Hinton addressed members Sunday about ongoing multi-day restoration efforts throughout their service area.

“I’ve had an opportunity to talk to several Blue Ridge Electric employees who have 40-plus tenures at the co-op, and the recurring theme is that this is nothing that has been seen before in the 84-year history of our company. I think that’s very important for our members to understand right now that our crews are working so tirelessly. Men and women of this co-op are working tirelessly to get the power back on, to assess the damage and we have got an army of crews that are here and that are coming to restore power as quickly as possible.

“To try and put this into perspective, we try to use broken poles as a metric. When you look at Hurricane Irma, which I was a part of seven years ago, that was in the 180-range. When you look at the tornado that hit Seneca and the surrounding areas in 2020, that was in the 200-plus range. We are well over 300 broken poles at this point and still counting. Those broken poles are the most time-intensive thing that we do.

“You’re looking at three to four hours a pole per a good crew. A really good crew could three, maybe four a day and that’s asking a lot of those folks and that is not the only thing that it takes to get the power back on. There are other things. Wires have to be hung and things like that that it takes. So I just say that to say this; it is a long, intensive process. It is a process that we are all committed to.

“We are working extremely hard and we are going to get everybody back on as quickly as we can. Our members have been great so far. We really appreciate our members’ patience. We appreciate everybody willing to come together as a community to help out. We’ve had a lot of folks reach out to us asking how they can help. I just ask and beg of that continued patience.

“Right now, we’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve still got work to do, and obviously every day without power is another day that’s a trial and tribulation. We understand that and we get that. We understand the position our members are in because we’re members too, and our employees are members. Our employees are out of power right now. Their families are sitting in the dark as well.

“I can assure everybody that there’s a major sense of urgency on the part of Blue Ridge Electric and that sense of urgency will stay through to the last member’s on,” he said.

With officials urging patience as crews work to restore power infrastructure, local residents are turning to each other for assistance.

“After three days I finally have power again,” a Liberty resident posted on a Facebook community page. “If anyone needs a hot shower or a place to charge their phone, come on over!”

Others were organizing community cook outs. Neighbors banded together with trucks and chainsaws to clear debris from each other’s yards while others scaled ladders to help secure flapping blue tarps over damaged roofs.

“Thank God for my neighbors, I don’t know what I would have done,” said Jackie St. Clair of Easley. Six of her neighbors had helped to clear a fallen tree from her driveway, blocking her in. St. Clair said she would have been unable to get to her elderly mother’s house without their help.

“I was terrified at the thought of her alone for days on end with no power,” she said. “But instead I was able to go get her and bring her here — there’s still no power, but at least we have each other.”

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355