Hurricane Helene: How many still in the dark? When will cell phones, internet be back on?

A.J. Jackson, Greenville News
Updated ·3 min read

More: See where energy outages exist across the United States

As the Upstate area continues to search for restored energy resources, here are Oct. 1 updates from local power, mobile and internet providers around the Upstate:

Duke Energy

According to a data outage map around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, Duke Energy has 352,000 without power in the Upstate area. The hardest hit areas are:

  • North of Greenville (Travelers Rest, Wade Hampton, Taylors areas) with 150,000 outages.

  • Spartanburg area with 114,000 outages.

  • 51,000 outages near the East-West Parkway area in Anderson County.

Laurens Electric Cooperative

  • As of Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 10 a.m., power has been restored to over 31,000 members, half of their customer base; 20 of their 32 substations are confirmed to be back online.

  • According to their outage map, more than 15,000 accounts are still without power between Laurens Electric's coverage areas in Greenville, Anderson, and Spartanburg Co.

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative

  • As of Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m., there are more than 3,000 outages in the western portion of Greenville County, including areas in Traveler's Rest, Easley, and Central.

  • Around 11 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, Blue Ridge Electric confirmed that power had been restored to around 60-percent of its customer base, overall.

Spectrum Internet

  • According to Down Detector, around 8 p.m. on Sept. 30, around 1,000 landline internet service users experienced outages with Charlotte, Tampa and Spartanburg being the most reported locations.

  • According to Spectrum communications team, "Storms and severe weather can damage property, cause power outages and interrupt your Spectrum services. We understand these conditions can be frustrating, and we work hard to keep you informed and restore your services as soon as there is power, and conditions are safe."

T-Mobile

According to T-Mobile communications team update on Oc.t 1, "T-Mobile teams will be in North Carolina and South Carolina offering charging and Wi-Fi connectivity at 528 Monument St. in Greenwood, South Carolina, during their open hours."

According to Down Detector, over the last 24 hours, around 1,100 nationwide customers had outages, the majority of which were cell phone-related.

AT&T

  • Down Detector, a third-party data and service provider tracker, reported around 800 AT&T mobile providers without signal on Oct. 30, around 2 p.m.

  • On Sept. 30, AT&T social media stated, "We are not experiencing a nationwide outage. Our national network is operating normally." They also noted their network challenges were likely from attempting to connect to users on another network.

Verizon

  • On Sept. 30, around 1:45 p.m., more than 50,000 of their customers experienced outages, according to Down Detector. By 1 a.m., the majority of those customers were returned to normal service according to their database.

  • This outage was a nationwide issue and not isolated to the Upstate.

– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and downtown culture for The Greenville News. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on X (formally Twitter) @ajhappened. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.Sign up today for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How many still without power in Greenville? When will internet be back on?