South Dakota electric crews head to South Carolina to help Hurricane Helene victims

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – On Wednesday, Five Electric Cooperative Crews in South Dakota made their way down to South Carolina to help victims of Hurricane Helene.

Dakota News Now caught up with them before they started their trip.

Twenty men are making their way to Pickens, South Carolina in the Northwest part of the state about 30 minutes away from North Carolina.

As challenging as this adjustment can be, the task at hand is what motivated them.

The crews were notified yesterday by the South Dakota Rural Electric Association that they will be embarking on this twelve-hundred-mile trip.

“About all we know is we’re going to Pickens South Carolina to assist a cooperative there, they told us to be ready to be gone for about two weeks,” Mike Oines, Sioux Valley Electric Lead Journey Line said.

Since Tuesday, the crews have had to make sure business is in order in South Dakota and for this trip, Transmission Superintendent Wade Bialas said his guys are ready for anything.

“We’re just going in there trying to make the situation better, try to help lend a helping hand, it’s always nice having that feeling knowing you’re coming in from the outside, coming in to help and most of the time people are very grateful,” Bialas said.

They’re expecting to work in all kinds of terrains, from swamps to mountainous regions.

“Sounds like a lot of trees fell down because of the winds of the hurricane, took down the wire, so clearing trees, putting wire back up, maybe fixing a few poles,” Bialas said.

Hurricane Helene made landfall last Thursday as a Category 4 storm.

Earlier Wednesday, the Pickens area was visited by Senator Lindsay Graham and Congressman William Timmons.

The Crews are expected to be there for about two weeks, although that will change based on how long they’re needed.

In a news release Wednesday, XCEL Energy said they are sending crews to Georgia to help with recovery efforts there.

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