Richland County to use public input to plan for future natural disasters

Richland County this month will hold six public meetings to hear from residents about their experiences during and after the historic Oct. 4 storm that struck South Carolina, the county said Thursday.

The meetings, scheduled for Jan. 19-23 and called “The Community Input and Recovery Project,” will help Richland County plan for future natural disasters, the county said in a news release.

Residents are invited to bring photographs or vidoes showing flooding damage to their home or property, Richland County spokeswoman Beverly Harris said.

“Whatever their experience was, we want to hear it,” she said.

The county’s disaster recovery contractor, Tetra Tech, will lead the community meetings and will work to learn where flooding occurred and how much damage residents and business owners suffered. The county said it will use the feedback gathered to develop a flood mitigation study of lower Richland County and the Gills Creek and Stoop Creek watersheds.

The six meetings are set for:

▪  5:30 p.m., Jan. 19 at St. Andrews Park on 920 Beatty Road

▪  Noon on Jan. 20 at Gadsden Park on 1668 Goodwin Circle in Gadsden

▪  Noon on Jan. 21 at Bluff Road Park on 148 Carswell Drive

▪  5:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Trenholm Park at 3900 Covenant Road

▪  5:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 at the Hopkins Adult Activity Center at 144 Hopkins Park Road in Hopkins

▪  Noon on Jan. 23 at Eastover Park at 1031 Main St. in Eastover.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 4:49 PM.