Saturday Storms Cut Power to Over 3,500 Horry County Customers

Storms passing through Horry County on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 15, 2026, caused severe power disruptions for more than 3,500 local utility customers across several residential and commercial areas. Heavy storm activity moved through the region late in the afternoon, damaging equipment and disrupting power lines.

Horry Electric Cooperative reported that around 2,181 of its customers lost electricity during the peak of the storm activity. The utility's single largest outage was traced to the Nixonville substation outside of Conway, where more than 2,000 customers were impacted simultaneously. Horry Electric utility crews were dispatched to respond to scattered outages across the area as the weather system developed. Utility representatives noted that repairs were underway while asking for patience from residents during the storm response.

Santee Cooper also reported substantial storm-related outages, affecting 1,322 of its customers. The primary disruption for Santee Cooper occurred in the Carolina Forest area, leaving approximately 1,260 customers without electricity. That specific outage began around 4:09 p.m., with response crews assigned shortly after to evaluate lines and begin restoration work, aiming to bring power back to affected neighborhood blocks by early evening.

Local weather forecasts from the Storm Prediction Center placed Horry County under a Level 1 marginal risk for severe weather through the evening hours, with the heaviest concentration of storm activity occurring between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Additional storm cells remaining in the area present an ongoing possibility of further localized outages. Residents experiencing loss of electricity are advised to contact their respective power providers directly to report outages, check online utility maps for updated restoration windows, and stay clear of any fallen lines or damaged utility infrastructure.