Pickens County extends state of emergency that Clemson University ignored for homecoming

PICKENS — County Council voted to extend its state of emergency another 30 days in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene as schools were canceled for another two days to clear the roads in hopes of power restoration by week’s end.

Pickens County Chairman Chris Bowers declared a state of emergency on Sept. 26 ahead of the storm, and the unanimous vote on Sept. 30 — the original expiration date — extended it for 30 days.

“That would have been wildly optimistic if we thought this was going to be the end,” County Administrator Ken Roper told the council.

The state of emergency status means the county can transfer personnel between departments, purchase goods and services from private entities, control access to affected areas, limit nonemergency activities and use all government resources to cope with a disaster, according to the ordinance.

With those topics in mind, District 1 Councilwoman Claiborne Linvill asked why the state of emergency wasn’t used or enforced for Clemson University’s homecoming football game on Sept. 28.

A university representative was in the county’s emergency operations center and told them about the game, Roper said. It wasn’t so much about permission.

“It would be inappropriate to say that they didn’t advise us they were having a game, because they did,” Roper said. “The university operates separate and apart from the rest of the county. But I think it’s murky, legally, what — if any — authority we have in that circumstance.”

Linvill told The Post and Courier on Oct. 1 that she was looking for clarification on how the state of emergency functions, what resources it unlocked and the jurisdiction lines on if the county has a say in what the university does.

“It seemed very strange that Clemson University was able to host such a major, public event that brought too many people to an area that was under a state of emergency,” she said. “It was surprising to me that the state of emergency didn’t seem to apply to the university, and I find it frustrating that we weren’t consulted in a decision that impacted us during an emergency.”

While Memorial Stadium is in Pickens County, it has Upstate operations in adjoining Anderson and Greenville counties.

Over 80,000 people attended the Sept. 28 football game, where the Tigers beat Stanford 40 to 14. Many saw it as a chance to escape the circumstances of home — no power or internet — and support local business, while others called it tone-deaf to flood the area with outsiders purchasing gas and ice for fun when it was needed to provide necessities to family.

Others have pointed out that emergency managers across the Upstate have called for drivers to stay off the roads to allow for cleanup and power restoration after Helene dropped trees across power lines and roadways on Sept. 27.

Clemson University effectively encouraged the opposite just 36 hours after the eye of the one-time Category 4 hurricane hit the Upstate, they said.

The School District of Pickens County was one of the entities heeding that advice in its cancellation of school. Calling off Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, the email urged families to stay home and “keep roads clear for emergency workers.”

That state of emergency timeframe can be updated at any of council’s October meetings, Roper said, but allows the county to more efficiently respond to Helene’s damage.