Aiken’s Hitchcock Woods closed until further notice | Hurricane Wire

5 pm Update

The Hitchcock Woods will be closed until further notice.

The foundation supporting the woods announced the closure Oct. 1 in a Facebook post.

“Many are wanting to help with clearing the trails,” the foundation said on Facebook. “While we certainly appreciate it, at this point we have assessed the work to be done and feel it is too dangerous to have others involved. The best thing you can do to help is to please consider a donation of any amount to aid the extensive clean -up effort.”

4:25 pm Update

City of Aiken offices will reopen Oct. 2.

City offices will be open from 8:10 am-5 pm, City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh said.

The Smith-Hazel Recreation Center, the Aiken County Farmers Market, Visitor Center and Train Museum, and Hopelands Gardens and the Rye Patch remain closed to the public until further notice.

City court will be closed for the week.

All city facilities will close at 5 pm through Oct. 4.

3:45 pm Update

Some Aiken County government offices will reopen Oct. 2.

The offices at the Aiken County Government Center at 1930 University Parkway will be open from 8:30 am-5 pm according to an Aiken County Facebook post.

The North Augusta and Midland Valley Magistrate offices will remain closed until power is restored.

Traffic court will also be closed.

3:30 pm Update

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham called for Congress to reconvene to consider and pass an aid package for people affected by Tropical Storm Helene and Israel in wake of the Iranian attack against it.

“It is imperative that Congress reconvene to pass a supplemental aid package for the damage done to the Southeast by Hurricane Helene and also to provide missile defense assistance to Israel, which is under attack from the Iranian regime,” Graham said in a news release.

“We need to help our people at home and stand with our allies abroad,” Graham continued. “I want the people affected by this terrible storm to see speedy federal relief, and I want Iran to see great resolve when it comes to Congress’ willingness to assist Israel. I am reaching out to Republican and Democratic colleagues to put a package together as soon as possible.”

North Augusta has established a phone line, 803-441-4227 to provide answers about its storm response.

Representatives can answer questions and take reports of water outages, water main breaks, trees in the road reports according to a Facebook post.

12:30 pm Update

A variety of government assistance is available for Aiken County residents affected by Tropical Storm Helene.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing and Administration.

The moratorium also applies to mortgages to Native American borrowers that are guaranteed under the Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program.

A 90-day extension has been granted for home equity conversion mortgages.

Affected homeowners should contact their mortgage provider for more information.

The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce is offering disaster unemployment assistance to people who have become unemployed as a result of Tropical Storm Helene.

For more information or to apply, go to scuihub.dew.sc.gov/CSS/CSSLogon.html.

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has extended driver’s license renewal dates to Nov. 1 for people with non-commercial licenses set to expire between Sept. 27 and Oct. 31.

All South Carolina vehicles with registration set to expire in September are considered valid until Nov. 1.

Late fees for vehicle taxes are suspended until Nov. 1.

All driver’s license suspensions have been extended until Nov. 1.

And all temporary plates set to expire between Sept. 27 and Oct. 31 are considered valid until Nov. 1.

And the South Carolina Department of Social Services has applied for a federal SNAP benefit replacement for people who lost power for more than four hours during the storm.

11 am Update

More Aiken County residents continue to see their power turned back on after Tropical Storm Helene left most of the county in the dark.

Dominion Energy reports power has been restored to around 19,000 Aiken County customers.

The company reported over 56,000 customers without power immediately after the storm. The company reported 37,328 Aiken County customers without power as of 11 am Oct. 1.

Power is slowly being restored at Exit 5 near North Augusta.

Dominion restored power 1,000 customers there Sept. 30, according to the city of North Augusta.

Around 9,000 North Augusta residents remain without power, according to the city.

Dominion has not yet provided an estimated time of power restoration for Aiken County customers.

Aiken Electric Cooperative reports that power has been restored to 26,000 of its members but around half still don’t have power.

Aiken Electric’s outage map went down Sept. 30 and has not returned.

However, the company’s member service teams are available at 803-649-6245.

Aiken Electric has also not provided an estimated time of power restoration for members.

There are three locations for Aiken County residents to get a hot meal beginning at noon Oct. 1: Aiken County Family YMCA (621 Trolley Line Rd. near Aiken), Salvation Army Soup Kitchen (604 Park Ave. in Aiken) and the KJ’s Market (4435 Jefferson Davis Hwy. in Clearwater).

The Graniteville-Vaucluse-Warrenville Volunteer Fire Department will begin cooking hamburgers and distributing water at 11 am across from their headquarters on Main Street in Graniteville.

Farm Bureau Insurance will host at cookout at 11:30 am Oct. 1 at its 1184 East Pine Log Rd. offices.

First Baptist in North Augusta will be serving lunch at noon. The church is at 625 Georgia Ave.

Water and food will also be distributed at the North Augusta Community Center at 495 Brookside Dr.

Lowe’s in North Augusta will be distributing ice at its garden center.

SRP Park in North Augusta will be open from noon to 5 pm Oct. 1 to provide residents a hot meal, air conditioning and chance to charge their phones and electronic devices.

Harvest Hope will be distributing food and water to families with school-age children at the Ridge Spring Farmer’s Market around noon.

The Aiken and Edgefield County emergency shelter has been moved to Johston-Edgefield-Trenton Middle School at 1095 Columbia Rd. near Johnston.

Charging stations are also available at the Goodwill store in North Augusta.

And Aiken-Barnwell Mental Health is providing crisis care.

A 911 outage for Aiken County AT&T customers has been resolved.

A burn ban is in effect for Aiken County.

Aiken, Aiken County and North Augusta offices remain closed.