Two years after Hurricane Helene, Laurens County remembers the storm and the people who carried it through

Sunday, Sept. 27, marks two years since Hurricane Helene tore through Laurens County in the early morning hours. The storm left behind damage few residents had ever seen in an inland Upstate community.

Helene came ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane with peak winds of 140 mph. It pushed north overnight and was still carrying tremendous force when it reached the Upstate. The National Hurricane Center released its official report on the storm six months later. That report placed Laurens County among the areas with the strongest winds recorded anywhere in South Carolina, with gusts approaching hurricane strength.

A changed landscape by daylight

By daylight, trees blocked roads in every corner of the county. Power lines lay tangled across yards and highways. Laurens Electric Cooperative alone counted nearly 47,000 customers without electricity. Local assessments later put Laurens County’s storm losses at roughly $24 million in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated about $83 million in timber losses across a 20-county region, and Laurens County ranked among the hardest hit.

Weeks of recovery

The weeks that followed tested the county in ways many residents still talk about. Families went days and, in some cases, weeks without power. Distribution sites opened in Waterloo and on Peachtree Street in Clinton. The American Red Cross set up feeding locations in Cross Hill and Clinton. Debris removal became one of the county’s largest challenges, and Laurens County partnered with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to clear state and county roads. More than a week after the storm, utility lines were still partially blocking 10 roadways.

County employees carried a heavy share of the load. Many worked around the clock for several weeks to keep county operations running and respond to residents’ needs, even as they dealt with damage and outages at their own homes.

Former County Administrator Thomas Higgs, who led the county through the storm and its aftermath, said those employees faced the storm from both sides.

“They were the victims and the responders themselves,” Higgs said. “They were the heroes!”

Keeping the community informed

Internet service was also out across much of the county, cutting many residents off from news and updates when they needed them most. The Laurens County Museum opened its doors to the public, offering a place to cool off, recharge phones and other devices, and get work done. For two weeks, the museum also served as home base for the Laurens County Buzz. With a working internet connection and county offices close by, publisher Brenda Stewart was able to attend the county’s daily media briefings and pass along the latest information on power restoration, road closures and relief resources to readers.

With so many residents offline, rumors spread quickly in those first days, including worries that the water supply was unsafe or would be shut off. The Laurens County Water & Sewer Commission moved to set the record straight. Executive Director Jeff Field assured customers that the water remained safe to drink and that there was no plan to cut off service. The system kept running on backup power while crews worked around the clock.

Restoring power, one line at a time

Restoring service took a countywide effort. Laurens Electric Cooperative spent two long weeks rebuilding its system and kept members informed through media updates, text alerts and frequent social media posts. Crews from the Laurens Commission of Public Works and City of Clinton utilities worked equally long days to bring service back to their own customers. The job was too big for local crews alone. Hundreds of lineworkers and right-of-way crews from sister cooperatives in South Carolina and 17 other states traveled to Laurens County to help rebuild poles and lines and bring homes back online.

Residents, many still without power themselves, returned the kindness. They brought meals, snacks and cold drinks to the crews working long hours in their neighborhoods. As its work neared completion, Laurens Electric thanked its members for their patience and support. It also shared a message that became a rallying point for many in the community: together, the county could weather any storm.

The best of Laurens County

The help did not stop with the utility crews. Neighbors and complete strangers showed up with chainsaws to clear driveways and cut trees off roofs. Others checked on elderly residents, shared generators and opened their homes to people who needed a place to charge a phone or take a hot shower.

American Legion Post 25 stepped forward to help local veterans whose homes were damaged in the storm, making sure those who had served the country were not left to face the cleanup alone.

The Upstate Pregnancy Center also answered the call. The center worked alongside the county to respond to requests for basic baby needs, such as diapers and formula, from residents who were stranded by blocked roads and power outages.

Higgs also praised residents during the recovery, calling the people of Laurens County truly remarkable.

For some families, those days after Helene were the worst of times. They also brought out the very best of Laurens County, as people set aside their own troubles to take care of one another.

What remains two years later

Two years later, much of the visible damage has been cleared away, though many residents still notice the gaps where old trees once stood. What remains just as clearly is the memory of how the community responded.

Laurens County was not ground zero for Helene, and other communities endured far worse. Still, the impact here was significant, and it has not been forgotten. More than a few residents admit they still feel a knot of worry whenever a storm starts tracking toward the Upstate.

Ready for the next storm

Laurens County Emergency Management’s Sonny Ledda said that awareness can be put to good use.

“Helene taught us that you don’t have to live on the coast to feel the full weight of a hurricane,” Ledda said. “The best way to honor what this community went through is to be ready. Take a few minutes this weekend to check your emergency kit, update your family’s contact plan and make sure you’re signed up for local alerts.”

As the anniversary comes and goes, residents are encouraged to pause and remember the storm, and to thank the linemen, first responders, public works crews, county employees, volunteers and neighbors who helped bring Laurens County back.