Snow storm blasts Upstate

PICKENS COUNTY — It may have been almost 70 degrees on Christmas, but Mother Nature has a way of reminding you she can still pack a punch. Such was the case this weekend as Pickens County saw the best/worst (depending on how you feel about snow) snowfall in almost a decade.

The National Weather Service recorded an official accumulation of 7 inches in Pickens, 6.6 inches in Liberty and 6 inches in Easley. Businesses closed, churches cancelled services, grocery store shelves had long since been emptied and for the most part, people stayed home. Except, of course, for the hundreds of linemen and utility company service people who worked tirelessly to restore power and repair downed lines.

On Sunday, Blue Ridge Electric Co-Op reported 1,893 members in Pickens County without electric service. They had all been restored by Monday night, a spokesperson from the Co-Op said. Up in Oconee County, Blue Ridge had 3,644 members in the dark. As of 6:44 a.m. on Tuesday, 701 were still without power.

On the Duke Energy end of things, the company reported on Monday upwards of 8,000 South Carolina residents were still without power. Duke’s “Counties with largest number of remaining power outages” list included both Pickens and Oconee Counties.

“We were ready for this storm, and thankfully it was much less severe than anticipated,” said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy Carolinas storm director. “We greatly appreciate the ongoing patience of our customers who lost power, especially given the cold temperatures across the region. Our crews are working to safely restore power to all impacted customers as soon as possible.”

On Sunday morning, Central Mayor Andrew Beckner provided an update on social media.

“As of right now, we have a little more than 500 households without power,” he wrote. “Most outages are concentrated east of 93/Main Street, with portions of Church Street affected along with a large swath of town north from Pepper Street to the Southern Wesleyan campus. I’m also told there’s around 25 households without power in the Brockwood area, specifically portions of Meredith Street, Wood Street, and Coker Circle. Please be aware the town administration is in touch with Duke Energy. As you can imagine, restoration crews are stretched thin, and they are working hard to get power back on across town.”

He continued to say neither the Central Police nor Fire Departments have had to respond to any emergencies thus far and expressed his hope it would remain that way.

“Help our first responders and keep yourself safe. Stay off the roads unless you absolutely have to travel,” he said. “Finally, check in on your neighbors — especially those without power. Let’s take care of each other. Say a prayer, see if you can lift up a burden by shoveling a sidewalk, cooking a meal, or just saying hello.”

Of course, there was a whole group of people who thought this weekend’s snow was just about the greatest thing ever: the kids.

Snowmen popped up in front yards all across the county and any surface with even the slightest incline was instantly transformed into a sledding hill. No sled? No problem! Trash can lids, baking sheets, Rubbermaid storage tubs — you name it. Upstate residents went full-on “MacGyver” when it came to having fun in the snow.

“We just went through the garage and found what we could,” said Mary Lewiston of Easley. “We didn’t have any ‘real’ sleds, and by the time we thought to buy one, no one had any. I don’t think the kids minded though.”

Lewiston’s kids — 4-year-old Becca and 7-year-old Kennedy — both agreed it was “the most snow we have ever seen in our entire lives.”

The girls took turns sliding down their driveway on their mom’s cookie sheets before switching to storage container lids.

“I thought the Teflon on the baking sheets would help them go faster but there’s no where to grip on the sides,” said Lewiston. “The lids worked better — but I’m pretty sure I’m going to need new cookie sheets now,” she laughed.