$52.4M: Hurricane damage assessment given for Florence County

Officials have assessed damage from Hurricane Matthew in Florence County at $52,481,667.

The figure was derived from a three-day assessment last week that was conducted by teams of officials from the Florence County Building and Planning, Tax Assessors Office, GIS and Emergency Management.

Teams identified 59 homes that were destroyed, 133 with major damage and 2,014 with minor damage. The teams also identified 32 businesses that were destroyed, 24 with major damage and 214 with minor damage.

On Monday, Florence County was one of the 15 counties approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual assistance. This means Florence County residents can seek FEMA assistance, including money for temporary rental assistance and essential home repairs for primary homes, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help survivors recover from the effects of the disaster.

Individuals seeking assistance can register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362. Disaster assistance applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing should call 800-462-7585 (TTY); those who use Video Relay Service may call 800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate 7 AM to 10 PM seven days a week until further notice.

FEMA representatives are also currently in the county and will be going door to door to assist with the application process. If a FEMA representative comes to your home, officials say, you make sure the person has proper identification.

The county is currently working with FEMA to identify disaster recovery center locations in both Lake City and Florence. These centers are expected to be open bySaturday.

In addition, Florence County has been approved for public assistance, which is for county and municipal government.