MARION, SC (WBTW) – Right now, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative says they have about 3,000 people without power in Marion and Dillon Counties.
In Marion County, several roads are covered in water, and Thursday crews had to use boats to get to the problem sights.
Chris Byrd is one of those crew members who has worked around the clock for days.
“It’s tough. I’ve got friends and family that have lost everything, and I’m sure that they’d love for me to be helping them, but I’m here just trying to help everybody else get their lights back on,” said Byrd.
Right after the storm, Pee Dee electric started out with 100% outages in Dillon County and Marion County, and now, they’re left with about 1,600 people without power in Dillon County and 1,200 in Marion County.
Thursday, Byrd and his crew worked to try to feed power to Dillon County and Marion County, but with surrounding areas under water, that could take a while.
“It’s very dangerous. Until this water gets out of here, I mean, you’ve got to take extra precautions because you want to go home and see your family at the end of the day,” said Byrd.
John Watson lives in the area and has spent the last week rescuing people from their homes. He’s seen their friends, family, and neighbors lose everything they have.
“Power should be the least of people’s worries. You’ve got people that’s lost their whole lives, their memories, everything they own here. Lights is the least of our concern at the moment. We just want to survive,” said Watson.
Pee Dee Electric has 10 crews working to get power back in Marion and Dillon. That’s over 200 people out working, and while they don’t have an estimated time they will restore power, Byrd says they’re doing everything they can.
