They lost homes to Hurricane Florence. How you can help make their holiday brighter
Displaced and struggling to make ends meet, Shannon E. Cribb has been more focused on recovering from Hurricane Florence than holiday plans.
A single mother with multiple sclerosis, Cribb lost her rental home in Dillon County to mold when rain poured into a hallway through a leaky roof that had been pried open by Florence’s tropical-storm-force winds.
“It was pouring on the inside of the house as well as the outside,” Cribb said.
Three months after Hurricane Florence struck South Carolina, hundreds of disabled, elderly and low-income families and individuals in the Pee Dee still are reeling from the aftermath.
Many remain displaced, living in extended-stay hotels or with family, while awaiting repairs to their homes. Others have moved back into moldy homes, according to officials with nonprofit disaster relief organizations working in the region.
State, county and local officials say recovering from Florence will take quite some time and, likely, cost more than expected. But, they add, progress is being made.
Thus far, more than 5,000 South Carolinians have been approved for individual disaster assistance — totaling more than $22.2 million — through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And more than 200 roads and bridges have been repaired.
“Recovery efforts following Hurricane Florence remain an active process,” S.C. Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson said in a statement. “SCEMD continues to work with local, state and federal partners to help individuals and families return to normal life as quickly as possible.”
With the holidays nearing, organizations like Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia are mustering money and supplies to help those still hurting in the Pee Dee.
Cribb is among up to 600 families in Dillon County this month who have received a holiday meal and non-perishable food, produce, toiletries and cleaning supplies through distribution events organized by Harvest Hope and others.
Unable to qualify for federal assistance but advised her rental house was unsuitable to live in, the 40-year-old tax preparer has spent the last week in a hotel room with her 15-year-old daughter, who, she said, suffers from asthma and bronchitis.
Cribb is waiting to move into a new rental home elsewhere in the county. The move is expected to cost her about $1,100, for which she has saved. But she now will need to take $300 of that to cover hotel and meal expenses, leaving her stretched thin.
“It’s taking everything out of my paycheck just to pay rent and utilities,” she said.
“It’s one less thing I really have to worry about,” Cribb said of receiving the food assistance. “It’s the holidays and the last thing I want my kids to do is see me stressed about anything.”
‘You lost your life, essentially, twice in two years’
As of Tuesday, Harvest Hope has distributed about 2.6 million pounds of supplies, including more than 2.1 million meals, valued at $4.5 million to more than 57,000 individuals affected by Hurricane Florence since mid-September.
“We’ve already surpassed what we did in 2016 (from Hurricane Matthew),” said Mary Louise Resch, disaster manager with Harvest Hope. “And we are getting very close to surpassing what we did in the 2015 floods, and we still have another 18 to 36 months to go in those communities.”
Many of those areas hit by Florence are among the state’s poorest and still recovering from having been battered and submerged in 2016’s Hurricane Matthew.
“You lost your life, essentially, twice in two years,” Resch said. “Especially where we have seniors on fixed incomes, that got hit in the recession, and families, already living paycheck to paycheck, it’s going to take time to get things back to normal.”
Harvest Hope has been working with state and local long-term recovery offices to assist elderly, disabled and low-income individuals, and connect them to various resources and support services.
”We want to take a little bit of burden off of them for the holidays, and let them know while they wait for assistance, someone is thinking of them and still working on their behalf,” said Kenneth Smith, chairman of the Dillon County Long Term Recovery Group.
Two thousand homes suffered flood damage in Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Horry, Marion and Marlboro counties, according to Gov. Henry McMaster.
“Many of these residents face serious personal financial challenges in making the necessary repairs to their homes,” McMaster wrote in a letter to South Carolina’s congressional delegation, requesting federal money for Hurricane Florence recovery. “Sadly, some are dealing with the startling prospect of total home loss and the inability to afford replacement.”
McMaster requested more than $600 million in federal aid. Also, earlier this month, the governor sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Tom Rice saying that, at the Republican congressman’s request, he planned to increase the request for community development block grants to $435 million from an initial $108 million, according to the Associated Press. That would allow for more relief for homeowners in flood plain areas who had no flood insurance.
‘It is a marathon, not a sprint’
Across South Carolina, 14 roads and bridges remained closed as of Dec. 13 because of damage from Florence, down from a high of more than 230.
Overall, more than 270 S.C. road and bridge sites, largely in the Pee Dee, were damaged by Florence. Repairs have been completed at 234 sites.
The S.C. Department of Transportation estimates most of the remaining road and bridge closings — in Chesterfield, Darlington, Marion and Marlboro counties — will reopen between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1. But other repair work will delay openings until June or later.
“Repairs have started, but ... it is a marathon, not a sprint, for the recovery process,” said Smith of the Dillon County recovery effort.
Florence’s toll
- FEMA has received 16,696 applications for assistance from the eight S.C. counties that received presidential disaster declarations. That compares to more than 101,000 S.C. residents who applied for FEMA individual assistance after the 2015 floods and more than 46,000 people who applied for individual assistance after Hurricane Matthew.
- As of Dec. 12, FEMA had paid out more than $21.9 million in housing, medical, childcare and other assistance to South Carolinians unable to cover uninsured or under-insured disaster-caused expenses. The highest total — at $13.9 million — went to Horry County, followed by Marion at $3.2 million and Dillon at $2.3 million
- The Small Business Administration has approved more than 1,020 home loans for more than $42 million, as well as more than $3.4 million in business loans
- The National Flood Insurance Program had received 1,381 claims and paid out more than $81.8 million in claims as of Dec. 12
Food distribution
What: Holiday food and toy distribution
Who: Harvest Hope Food Bank, Dillon County and Marion County recovery groups
Where: 1333 A.C. Robinson Blvd., Marion, S.C. — the road’s name recently has been changed; GPS will recognize 1333 Penderboro Road — and Lake View Community Center, 106 Richard Temple St., Lake View, S.C.
When: 1 p.m. Thursday in Lake View and 10 a.m. Friday in Marion
Those seeking assistance will need a driver’s license to show proof of residence.
How to help
Donations can be made securely online or at any of the following Harvest Hope locations:
- Columbia | 2220 Shop Road, Columbia, S.C. 29201 | (803) 254-4432
- Greenville | 2818 White Horse Road., Greenville, S.C. 29611 | (864) 281-3995
- Florence | 2513 W. Lucas St., Florence, S.C. 29501 | (843) 661-0826
For more information, go to www.harvesthope.org
