Hurricane Joaquin, updated to a very dangerous Category 4 storm, is in Greer CPW’s crosshairs.
The utility company has an emergency plan in place to respond to any damage caused by wind and rain expected from Joaquin throughout the weekend.
Rain is scheduled to begin overnight and heavy, all-day rain, with gusty winds is forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Greer’s Oktoberfest has been cancelled.
Greer Community Ministry’s OctoberFAST, scheduled Saturday outdoors at Greer First Baptist, remains scheduled rain or shine, according to a GCM spokesperson.
“We have no way to take it inside but if the weather threatens the safety of the public we will call it off,” Hannah Rainwater, of GCM, said.
Matthew Brady, spokesman for the Commission of Public Works, said, “Once we figure out what the storm will do our staff is ready to keep the lights on.”
CPW has had an aggressive tree-trimming program to help prevent outages from fallen limbs. “We also have a comprehensive maintenance plan that keeps our system in good shape. We have mutual assistance agreements with other municipal power utilities if we need additional help,” Brady said.
No outages were reported to CPW during last winter’s ice storm in the Upstate. “Wind is a little different than ice,” Brady said. “That being said, we’re watching this storm closely for any changes in its track or projected severity.”
Brady said CPW customers could call 864-848-5500 for assistance. The utility has improved its emergency response in past years by having off-hour emergency calls go directly to the department – electric, water, gas, waste water – customers are calling.
“We are trying to be as communicative as possible on our web site and social media,” Brady said.