NEWBERRY, S.C. — A couple is dead in Newberry County in a storm-related crash caused during Tropical Storm Helene's fury as it passed near the state.
Newberry County Coroner Lauran Kneece said 49-year-old Robert Wise and 48-year-old Valencia Jones of Chapin were killed in a crash with a tree that occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Chapman Road in the Little Mountain area.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol has not yet given additional details on the collision, but at the time of the incident, there were still high winds in the area that were bringing down trees in the roadway. The deaths are both being included in the totals of storm-related deaths from Helene.
The Newberry County Coroner’s Office and the South Carolina Highway Patrol will continue investigating the incident.
"Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Wise,"
Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster has said he has never seen damage like the one left behind by Helene in his 35 years as sheriff of the county. He said the impacts were widespread throughout the county and it would take a while for things to get better.
"It's the first time we've ever seen a storm this widespread, that has done this much damage," Foster told News19 Saturday. "The closest thing I can remember is the ice storm that we had, that took out most of our utilities all over the county, but this is much more severe than that."
A map from PowerOutage.US, which collects data from utility companies on power restoration, said the county had almost no power as of Saturday morning, over 24 hours after the storm began leaving the area.