Author: Dick Mangrum

The following is a PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 522 PM EDT MON APR 13 2020 …NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR EF3 TORNADO EVENT… START LOCATION…3 SSE WESTMINSTER IN OCONEE COUNTY SC END LOCATION…2 W CENTRAL IN PICKENS COUNTY SC DATE…04/13/2020 ESTIMATED TIME…03:20 AM EDT MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING…EF3 ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED…160 MPH MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH…900.0 YARDS PATH […]

The Walhalla traffic lights at Main and Catherine streets have been restored to working order.  Still out of service are a number of traffic lights in the Seneca area–including those on 123 at the East End intersection, at Carson Road, and at the Wells Highway along the Seneca-Clemson corridor.  Motorists should proceed with caution thru those intersections without working traffic […]

By 10:40 last night, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative had 14,505 members without electricity. That’s 840 fewer outages than were registered one hour previous. The by-county breakdown: Anderson 2,795 Greenville 67 Oconee 10,873 Pickens 770 Spartanburg -0- Transmission-line specialists are continuing to prepare the new steel poles that will replace the four that were damaged in a direct hit by the […]

Greenfield Industries has now been told power won’t be restored until late today.  Here is that plant’s schedule: Shipping Only 1st shift No 2nd shift 3rd shift normal operations Due to the lack of electric power by 5 pm yesterday, Oconee County announces that the transfer station is closed today to commercial haulers. Also, closed are the following convenience centers: […]

A 77 year-old Walhalla man died Monday morning. Jack F. Harvill, 77, of Walhalla, was employed by American Security. Mr. Harvill was a security guard and stationed at the main entrance to the Borg Warner Plant located at 15545 Wells Highway near Seneca. The guard building where he was stationed sustained a structural collapse during the storm that occurred at […]

We’ve been told to expect the arrival shortly of Governor McMaster, believed to be heli-coptering into Seneca where he is to view the damage to the major manufacturing employer, the Borg Warner Plant on the Wells Highway.  But the stop at Borg Warner, according to the Oconee County Administrator Amanda Brock, is just one of the stops the governor will […]

For reasons of safety and as a deterrent to looting in storm-damaged sections of Seneca, a citywide curfew will go into effect.  According to the city’s announcement, the curfew applies from 9 tonight until 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.  Those caught violating the curfew are subject to penalties from the police.

By 11:50 am today, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative had 24,933 members without power. The by-county breakdown: Anderson 3,972 Greenville 634 Oconee 14,297 Pickens 6,029 Spartanburg -0- Service has been restored to three substations in Pickens County that were affected by failure of a transmission line. Crews have encountered a good number of broken poles. Repair crews continue to work on […]

Tornadic damage naturally will bring out curiosity seekers, and the storm that has heavily damaged parts of the Seneca area is no exception.  However, the city police, the mayor, and the city administrator are appealing for people to avoid coming into the affected parts of the city today–mainly downtown and south of the railroad.  Public safety responders and other repair […]

Seneca and Oconee can count on manpower, trucks, and equipment from Greenville County as it attempts to recover from what the Seneca mayor calls a tornado that devastated part of the city, south of the railroad track, especially in subdivisions in the vicinity of the middle school and the Wells Highway.  A 101.7/WGOG source reported seeing something like 50 vehicles, […]