AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) – After getting a visit from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster earlier this week, Senator Lindsey Graham made a stop in Aiken Thursday afternoon.
After touring communities around the Southeast, he told reporters he estimates the total damage from Helene is close to $150 Billion.
That’s why he joined Aiken Mayor Teddy Milner, North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams, and other local leaders to talk about the desperate need for help in the county.
“From my point of view, I’ve been coming to Aiken County for the last 30 years, got a lot of friends here. I am sorry,” the senator said. “This is Hurricane Hugo for our part of the world. This is usually what our coastal communities experience, but we’ve got the brunt of it here.”
Senator Tom Young says with thousands of power lines still down, county residents will continue to see power outages for the next several days.
“The utility companies have said that the vast majority of customers in Aiken County will have their power back on by the later part of next week,” Young said. “This is really a once-in-a-lifetime storm that has impacted us. We are at ground zero for Hurricane Helene’s impact in South Carolina.”