Storms Can Cost Midlands Counties

Newberry, SC (WLTX) - Many in the Midlands were dealing with storm clean up Wednesday, but they're not the only ones having to pay for Mother Nature.  It costs money to keep first responders and law enforcement on the road.

Newberry County is arguably one of the hardest hit counties in the Midlands.  Every time there's a storm, they seem to be in the path and that includes Tuesday night's weather.  But deputies there say it's their sense of community that keeps the costs down.

"It was eight trees that fell across right here in the road, where all the debris is at.  And we had 2 fire trucks and 3 rescue squads back here that were removing them and cutting them," explains Newberry resident Brooks Deloach. 

He saw the storm begin while he and his family were on the road.  "When we went to turn at Newberry College, it just - everything just exploded.  The bottom fell out, the tree fell over," he says, "Debris was just coming from everywhere.  We were getting hit with limbs and everything on the car.  It tore up the whole front end."

He isn't the only one that's going to have more to pay for after last night's storms.  Major Todd Johnson and the Newberry County Sheriff's Department are used to the extra expense.  "It certainly does seem like we get more than our fair share of ice storms, snow storms, electrical and thunder storms and high wind storms," he explains, "Obviously, there are costs associated with it - more fuel costs could be associated with it, manpower costs."

But because of the storms' attraction to them, they have a system in place.  "Newberry County is so blessed to have such excellent volunteer fire and rescue squad people.  They all come out and really make a significant difference in cutting that cost," Johnson says. 

And even paid employees give their time.  Says Johnson, "Many of our deputies that come out, many of our dispatchers that come out never put down overtime."

For Johnson, t's a part of serving the residents like Deloach, no matter what it takes. 

Johnson says their 911 center received hundreds of calls Tuesday night, many of them coming in just a couple hours time during the worst of the storm.

Storms cause power outages in NC, SC

Duke Energy reported nearly 29,000 customers were without service Thursday afternoon.

Jackson County, North Carolina, appeared to have the most problems, with downed trees and power lines leaving thousands without power. More than 8,000 customers were without service Thursday afternoon.

Greenville County had about 6,700 customers without electricity.

Smaller outages were reported by South Carolina Electric and Gas Company and Progress Energy. Those outages affected a few hundred customers in both states.

No serious injuries have been reported. One tree fell on a house and another on a car in Newberry County, South Carolina.

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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