Update on storm-related deaths in SC from Helene
There have been numerous storm-related deaths in South Carolina from Helene.
Update on Monday afternoon:
Greenville County Schools:
Greenville County Schools announced Monday that all schools will remain closed for the rest of the week. Read district's entire statement here.
Laurens County:
Tree vs car in Clinton
- Richard Dylan Rathbone 31-year-old male from Clinton
- Thomas Carson Lawson 41-year-old male from Clinton
Tree vs camper
- Carl Thomas Bailey 59-year-old male from Cross Hill
Updates as of Monday morning:
- Aiken: 5
- Anderson: 4
- Chesterfield: 1
- Greenville: 6
- Greenwood: 1
- Newberry: 2
- Saluda: 3
- Spartanburg: 6
- York: 1
Previous story below has specific information on deaths that coroner's have released so far:
Greenville County: 6 deaths
Six storm-related deaths have been reported in Greenville County.
Spartanburg County: 6 deaths
Spartanburg Coroner Rusty Clevenger says 6 people have died in his county.
- The latest death to be reported occurred on Friday around 9 p.m. The coroner was called to Parris Bridge Road in Chesnee, where the coroner found 68-year-old Jimmy Lee Wall dead in his home. Upon initial entry to Wall's home by the fire department, there were extremely high levels of carbon monoxide recorded. There had been a running generator inside the residence powering at least one appliance.
- He said a tree fell on a home and killed AnnaMaria Fletcher, 34, on Rainbow Circle in Inman. Clevenger said a tree fell on her home while she was inside.
- 3 people died in Landrum- 2 were killed when a tree fell on a golf cart and the other was a person in a car that was swept away by water. Saturday the coroner identified the two men on the golf cart as Christopher Mark Owens, 64 and Derrill Eugene "Gene" Pitts, 70.
- One of the people who died in Landrum was identified by the coroner as 88-year-old Ralph Selle of Columbus, North Carolina. The coroner's office was called to Highway 14 near the intersection of Earles Fort Road on Friday afternoon. The coroner said Selle was inside a vehicle that was completely submerged due to extensive flooding in the roadway.
- The 5th death was in Chesnee when a tree fell on a camper. The coroner identified that man as Alvaro Burgos-Guitierrez, 41.
Anderson County: 4 deaths
Four more deaths have been reported in Anderson County, South Carolina.
The latest death was reported on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The coroner said the incident is on Broadwell Mill Road off Highway 29, and involves a car being swept away by water.
The coroner says the victim was tracked down due to the victim's phone signal around Harbin Road.
The coroner says that 60-year-old Karen Mcall died after downing as a result of her car being swept away.
They also say they had to extricated Mcall from the wooded area via rescue helicopter deployed for the Helene disaster relief.
Coroner Greg Shore said a tree fell on a woman's home on W. Whitner Street around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
Shore said the victim was identified as 55-year-old Christine Lynn Schmeiske.
He said officials found her under heavy debris and she was pronounced deceased on the scene.
"The investigation indicates the victim was in her residence and due to the high winds and heavy rain of hurricane Helene, a large tree fell across the center of the house and killed the victim," Shore said.
Shore said 54-year-old Sandy Lee Fisher also died when a tree fell on her house on Williams Road in Anderson. He said Fisher was also found under heavy debris and pronounced dead at the scene.
The coroner responded to a wreck on Saturday around 1:40 a.m. on Main Street in Pelzer.
Main Street was down to a one lane road, due to the storm, which caused two vehicles to be traveling different directions in the same lane hitting head on.
Two people in one of the vehicles were transported to Prisma Health with non-life-threatening injuries.
The coroner identified the victim who died in the other vehicle as 83-year-old Bobby Jean Foster of Belton, South Carolina.
The investigation indicated that Foster was driving a Nissan Frontier traveling east on Main Street in Pelzer and was struck head-on by a Ford Explorer traveling west. The Ford Explorer was attempting to go around a large tree and downed power lines, that were blocking the west bound lane and traveled into the oncoming lane of traffic striking Foster's vehicle.
The coroner said this death has been attributed to Helene as a weather-related death due to damage in the area and obstacles in the road that contributed to the crash.
Saluda County: 3 deaths
On Saturday afternoon, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety reported another person has died due to Helene.
Two firefighters were killed in Saluda County when a tree fell on a firetruck, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster confirmed those deaths during a news conference on Friday afternoon.
Newberry County: 2 deaths
McMaster also said there were two storm-related deaths in Newberry County.
Aiken County: 4 deaths
South Carolina Department of Public Safety reports four deaths in Aiken.
Chesterfield County: 1 death
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety reported one death in Chesterfield as of Saturday afternoon.