PINE GLEN: Some flood-damaged homes won’t be rebuilt

Some flood-damaged homes in Lexington County’s Pine Glen neighborhood will be razed instead of rebuilt.

Returning to the flood-prone area in St. Andrews frightens retiree Janet DuBeau.

“It’s a might too scary,” she said. “I’ve had nightmares about it.”

Even if DuBeau were willing, renovation of the home is too big a challenge for her, she said.

Federal and local requirements would force her home to be elevated nearly 14 feet as a safeguard.

“It would be living in a tree house,” she said. “I would love the view, but how would it look being that high compared to others? And I have arthritis, so it would be too tall to climb up.”

Pine Glen homeowners are learning that restoring a home in the aftermath of a flood can be complex and time-consuming. Some neighbors probably will join DuBeau in leaving the neighborhood of 134 homes flooded during record rain across the Midlands in October.

Pine Glen was swamped when the lower Saluda River overflowed after SCE&G released water from Lake Murray upstream to protect its 85-year-old earthen dam.

Residents had to revisit the scare this past weekend, when SCE&G opened one of the dam’s floodgates again due to rising waters. The water came up to people’s backyards and covered the road in a cul-de-sac before beginning to recede when the floodgate was closed again.

Logan Grillot is skeptical that her home is worth fixing after inspectors decided it is two-thirds damaged, requiring it to be raised. How high it must be raised is undetermined, but she expects it will be at least 9 feet.

Federal standards require homes in flood-prone areas more than half-damaged to be elevated.

The extensive repairs needed means renovation is unlikely, said Grillot, who has lived in the home for eight years.

“We are intending to walk away,” she said.

Grillot is juggling the fate of her flood-damaged home with preparation for her wedding in October.

“We have a lot better things to do than this on top of everything else,” she said. “It’s a brand new start for us in more ways than one.”

But Grillot is stuck for now.

She has two checks from insurers for repairs she is unable to use until it’s clear what will happen. Meanwhile, she continues to pay her mortgage as well as rent a home near Irmo a few miles north.

“There’s no guide that tells how to navigate through this,” she said. “Every time we turn around, it’s something else. It’s so aggravating.”

Some neighborhood leaders envision abandoned homes becoming playgrounds protected from future flooding by an earthen wall. “It’s going to become a quasi-park,” said Mark Fuge, neighborhood crime watch leader.

Avian Jones, who lived next to DuBeau, is undecided about repairing her home even though it doesn’t need to be elevated. “We’re concerned that every time there’s heavy rain, we’re in danger of flooding again,” she said.

Jones’ family is struggling to pay rent on a townhouse and the mortgage on their home, a combined bill of nearly $1,700 monthly.

Federal disaster aid for the rent ended after two months, which Jones said was too soon. And her records needed to obtain an extension were lost in the flood.

It’s one more problem on the list of challenges ahead, Jones said.

“Our world has pretty much been turned upside down by all this,” she said.

Earlier Pine Glen coverage:

This story was originally published January 3, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "PINE GLEN: Some flood-damaged homes won’t be rebuilt."