NEWBERRY, S.C. — Newberry and Saluda Counties have put in place a curfew overnight as they both deal with significant damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene.
Newberry County Council Chairman Todd Johnson declared a state of emergency late Friday afternoon for all of Newberry County. With that order in place, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster and Public Safety Director Tommy Long instituted a curfew from 8pm-6am. Essential workers for local businesses and first responders are exempt from this order.
Saluda County said their curfew could be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. Saturday.
Newberry County said the purpose of the curfew is to deter anyone who might want to take advantage of vulnerable businesses and people and to protect the workers restoring power.
According to PowerOutage.us, nearly all of those two counites were without electricity Friday. That also limited traffic lights.
"There are still trees falling and trees in the road that may not be identified in the dark," Newberry County county said in announcing the decision. "This is for your safety as well as that of the essential workers."
Foster told News19 earlier in the day that the damage from the storm was the worst he'd ever seen in the 35 years that he's been sheriff of the county. "It's mass destruction," he said.