Report: Thousands of South Carolina Flood Victims Still Need Help

Thousands of people in South Carolina still need home repairs, while the state has submitted a plan for using almost $100 million in federal housing aid almost a year after historic rains inundated the state. The state is now also reviewing applications from farmers for state help.

Last October’s rains, which some experts say was an event that happens only once every 1,000 years, dropped upward of 2 feet of rain and the long-term recovery from such an event generally takes three to seven years.

Recovery agencies are still working with about 3,600 clients, many of whom are still living in storm-damaged homes. The state is reviewing applications from farmers for millions of dollars state lawmakers earmarked earlier this year for farm aid. And South Carolina forwarded a plan to the federal government last month for using of federal money to help for home repairs.

A look at the ongoing recovery:

Thousands Still Need Help

Falon Alo, the executive director of Hearts & Hands Disaster Recovery the flooding case management provider for the state, says the agency currently has 3,600 clients in the 24 counties that were declared disaster areas after the floods. “Just about every single one of them is living in an unsafe home with mold infestation, buckling floor and roofs that still leak when it rains because they have no place else to go,” she says.

While other areas of the state, notably Charleston and Columbia, were hit hard most of those who still in need help live in the Pee Dee area. “The vast majority of our clients are people who are elderly and disabled and living in poverty,” Alo says. In one home lives an 8-year-old boy who is on the list for a heart transplant.

Help From the Feds

After the storm about 103,000 people registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual assistance. About 28,000 received some help with the average grant about $3,000.

The state is getting almost $100 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and last month submitted an action plan that is now being reviewed. The first aid checks could come in January.

Farm Aid

Stephanie Sox of the state Department of Agriculture says the department hopes to issue checks for farmers affected by the flood by Oct. 1. This week was the deadline for most farmers to apply although farmers in three upstate counties have until Sept. 6 because those counties were added to the federal disaster declaration later. The aid comes from $40 million lawmakers approved over Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto. The money will be some help, although it’s estimated the floods caused farm losses of $375 million.

Road to Recovery

The Department of Transportation reported this week that sections of 31 state roads remain closed, well down from about 550 closed after the storm. Twenty-three roads are closed because they cross dams which the state does not maintain.