PAWLEYS ISLAND — An overnight storm blasted the Waccamaw Neck June 9, knocking out power to more 22,000 homes and businesses, toppling trees and scattering debris, officials said. No injuries were reported, but many residents found themselves in cleanup mode. "We had some pretty widespread power outages along the Waccamaw Neck ," Georgetown County Emergency Services Director Brandon Ellis said.
"Those came as a result of several downed trees, numerous down trees. ..
. There were also a few houses that did have trees that fell down on them, but no injuries were reported thankfully." Santee Cooper spokeswoman Tracy Vreeland said 22,500 of the utility's customers were without power during the peak of the outage, and crews worked throughout the night to restore power.
“We had a transmission line down and then we had a lot of smaller lines as well that we had to take care of,” Vreeland said. The National Weather Service issued its first warning about the storm at 10:38 p.m.
By 9 a.m. June 10, Santee Cooper reported that service had been restored to all but about 200 customers.
Even with power restored, many homeowners were busy cutting up trees and hauling off limbs. The piles of debris led Georgetown County officials to open the overflow area of the Pawleys Island Recycling Center for Waccamaw Neck residents to dispose of limbs and other vegetation. County spokeswoman Jackie Broach said debris could not be accepted at the Murrells Inlet Recycling Center.
The storm also force.