Latest Internet and Power Outages in Upstate Helene; Parks, school openings

Kathleen William October 10, 2024

As the Upstate returns to normalcy following Tropical Storm Helene, here are some updates on internet and power restoration, park and school openings, and services available in Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson counties.

As of Monday, Sept. 30, officials said more than 6,650 distribution lines across the Upstate were damaged following the storm and 425,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to a USA Today power outage tracker.

Shortly after the tropical storm, Spectrum experienced numerous internet outages as Helene reached the area.

As of Oct. 7, istheserverdown.com — a third-party data tracking site — listed at least seven major cities in the Upstate, including Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Simpsonville, Easley, Greer and Duncan, as hit hardest by Spectrum Internet outages.

Find the latest information on power and internet restoration in the Upstate:

Current information about Hurricane Helene relief: Where can I get business help? Places where you can help others

Spectrum internet updates see some recoveries near Simpsonville, Mauldin area

Many Spectrum Internet customers have been without service for almost a week. Over the past day, there have been reports of individuals experiencing a restoration of internet service in the Simpsonville and Mauldin area beginning Tuesday evening.

According to Down Detector – an independent, third-party data tracker – Spectrum reached a peak of nearly 500 affected customers around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8, with markets near Charlotte cited as the most affected members. While no direct tracker of outages or number of customers could be identified, Spectrum's communications team issued a statement on the issue earlier this week:

“There are currently over 3,000 field managers, technicians and engineers actively working around the clock to access and repair damage to our network caused by Helene,” said Scott Pryzwansky, senior director of the Mid-South Region at Charter Communications. “Once power is restored to homes, streets and neighborhoods, Spectrum customers’ services will come back online.”

Swamp Rabbit Trail and Greenville County Parks

While all city and county parks reopened several days after Helene's accident, some spots on the Swamp Rabbit Trail are closed to pedestrians.

According to an update from Greenville County Parks and Recreation, “Emergency crews are working to clear the Swamp Rabbit Trail Network following damage from Helene.”

Her department is also advising the public to follow closure signs as there are active crews in the area.

According to the City of Greenville's recovery report, on Tuesday, October 9, its contractors moved storm debris from the area and began mulching. So far, 57,000 cubic meters of rubble has been collected, enough to cover 85 football fields.

Energy updates around Upstate including Duke, Laurens and Blue Ridge

Duke Energy

According to an Oct. 8 social media post, Duke Energy has restored power to the majority of its customers in the Upstate region and will continue to work to restore approximately 6,500 customers across South Carolina who are still without power.

As of early afternoon October 9th, Duke Energy's outage map lists the following customer outages per county:

Greenville-825

Spartanburg – 527

Anderson – 32

Lauren's Electric Cooperative

Laurens Electric announced that its Upstate service area has restored power to 99 percent of its customers:

As of early afternoon Oct. 9, a Laurens Electric outage map lists the following customer outages per county:

Greenville-133

Spartanburg-44

Anderson-1

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative

Around midday on October 9, there were a total of about 32 outages, most of them near areas north of Sunset.

On October 7, Blue Ridge Electric announced that 99 percent of its customer base had power restored as 63,000 members had their power restored since the impacts of Tropical Storm Helene.

Upstate schools are back in session

Greenville County Schools

According to Tim Waller, the school district's director of media relations, Greenville County schools reopened Wednesday, Oct. 9, and transportation will operate modified bus routes to escort students to and from school.

Other notable information includes the extension of the first quarter of the school year from October 11th to October 21st, the cancellation of all field trips for the week of school reopening and the announcement of each school's sporting events individually.

More: Back to school in Greenville County: What to know about calendars, bus routes and academic extensions

Anderson County Schools

All five school districts in Anderson County returned to school on Wednesday, October 9th.

“While we were out, we had some damage to the lighting in the facilities, but we are largely back to normal and in a safe environment,” said Jeff Wilson, assistant superintendent of Anderson District One. He also noticed some impassable roads, but not many since schools in his district were at normal capacity.

Spartanburg County Schools

Six of Spartanburg County's seven school districts reopened on Tuesday, Oct. 9, with district four being the only one to close.

An announcement Tuesday morning explained that after staff returned to Woodruff High School on Tuesday, they discovered a substance they believed to be mildew or mold in several areas. As a result of this discovery, air quality testing was scheduled for all schools.

More: 4 schools in the Spartanburg School District will be closed Wednesday due to mold and mildew issues

— AJ Jackson covers the food and dining scene, as well as arts, entertainment and downtown culture, for The Greenville News. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @ajhappened. This reporting is only possible with the support of our readers. Sign up for a digital subscription today.

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Latest Internet and Power Outages in Upstate Helene; Parks, school openings

Spectrum internet updates see some recoveries near Simpsonville, Mauldin area

Swamp Rabbit Trail and Greenville County Parks