For the second weekend in a row, a winter storm is chilling the Carolinas and Georgia. Unlike last week’s destructive freezing rain and ice, which still has thousands of residents in Mississippi and Tennessee without power, this storm has been almost all, if not entirely a snow event.
Rick Canavan, Duke Energy storm director posted on the Duke Energy web site “We’re monitoring conditions closely and will dispatch crews as soon as it’s safe…” and added “Dry, powdery snow is less likely to affect power equipment, but strong wind gusts can still bring down trees and cause outages.”
The winter storm as of Saturday afternoon has not resulted in a significant number of power outages. Only a few hundred outages have been reported in both North and South Carolina.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation in a social media post asked residents to avoid unnecessary travel and give emergency responders and road crews room to work safely. Please remember that heavier snowfall means it will take time to clear all roads. If you must travel, slow down, give crews plenty of room to work. If possible, continue to stay off the roads and be patient as crews work around the clock to respond.
Many church services have been cancelled across the area and some upstate school districts have already announced plans for Monday Feb. 2:
Abbeville County Schools - Virtual Learning Monday
Greenwood Co. Schools Dist. 50 - Virtual Learning Monday
Laurens Co. Schools Dist. 55 - Virtual Learning Monday
Laurens Co. Schools Dist. 56 - Virtual Learning Monday
Ware Shoals Schools Dist. 51 - Virtual Learning Monday