Business

Santee Cooper Testing Santee Dam Sirens Aug. 22nd

FILE

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – Santee Cooper will test its sirens located below the Santee Dam and in the Santee River floodplain on Aug. 22 at approximately 9 a.m. The siren tests will be part of full-scale exercise to test Santee Cooper’s Emergency Action Plan for Dam Failure. The exercise will involve various municipal, county, state and federal agencies.

“Safety is a priority at Santee Cooper. This test is a way to make sure our warning equipment is working properly in the unlikely event there is a problem with the Santee Dam,” said Shea McMakin, Santee Cooper’s Emergency Action Plan for Dam Failure coordinator.

There are 15 siren sites, which can be activated remotely from Santee Cooper’s Energy Control Center in Moncks Corner, located throughout the floodplain.

Also scheduled for testing on Aug. 22 are some 650 tone-alert radios issued to floodplain residents in Berkeley, Clarendon, Georgetown, Charleston and Williamsburg counties. The radios are activated by the National Weather Service in coordination with Santee Cooper. Santee Cooper’s telephone-based warning system for the floodplain will be exercised as well.

The dam, which rests upon Lake Marion, is 4.5 miles long and 40 feet tall and has a floodplain that reaches about 650 residences between the dam and the Atlantic Ocean.

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s largest power provider, largest Green Power generator and the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state. Through its low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper powers South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.santeecooper.com.

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