‘Make the bad a little better’: Local responders aid parts of S.C. hit hardest by Matthew

With York, Chester and Lancaster counties being spared the worst of Hurricane Matthew, local emergency responders are lending their time and resources to parts of the state that weren’t as fortunate.

The storm pounded the Palmetto State last weekend, dumping as much as 10 to 15 inches of rain on the Lowcountry and PeeDee regions and between 5 and 9 inches in the Midlands.

The Rock Hill Fire Department on Monday sent a four-man crew and a boat to assist with water rescues in Marion County. Accompanying them is a representative from York County Emergency Management.

“The area is severely flooded,” Deputy Chief Mark Simmons said. “They have them checking areas for people who still need to be taken out of their homes.”

Rock Hill firefighters on Tuesday helped six people from a home in a flooded neighborhood in Mullins, Simmons said.

In Nichols, about seven miles east of Mullins, more than 100 people headed for the town hall – the highest point they could find – after the floodwaters began rising Monday. They quickly found themselves surrounded by water from the nearby Lumber River.

Ed Darby, deputy director of Chester County Emergency Management, left Monday to help coordinate emergency efforts in Marion County, according to Ben Grant, emergency planner for Chester County.

“Those guys have been up at least 48 or more hours,” Grant said. “They put in a request to have someone come down. Ed went down to relieve them so they can have some time to go sleep.”

Just before Matthew hit, Darby and Grant drove a trailer filled with 80 cots and pillows to an emergency shelter in Williamsburg County.

“As far as I know, they’re still in use,” Grant said. “Williamsburg still had numerous shelters that were open (Tuesday).”

Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, Darby recalled the convoys of utility crews and tree removal services heading into town as they left after dropping off the cots. Many buildings were boarded up or sandbagged in preparation for the storm.

“There were still a lot of people recovering from the flood last year,” Darby said. “Kingstree was hit pretty hard.”

Darby also recalled the concerned looks on the faces of the people in the shelter. Their concern turned to appreciation for the cots, pillows and blankets, which Darby said the shelter didn’t have.

“It made us feel good to be able to help them a little bit,” he said. “That’s kind of what we do – we try to make the bad a little better.”

Lancaster County emergency responders have not been dispatched to other parts of the state but are on standby, according to Stephen Blackwelder of Lancaster County Fire and Rescue.

“We haven’t been asked yet, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “We may be asked to go with the second wave (later this week).”

Blackwelder said that during natural disasters, fire agencies around the state are mobilized by the state fire marshal’s office.

“There’s a group that basically finds the need and then finds a way to fill that need,” he said. “If everybody did their own thing, it would be chaos.”

Many local first responders went on similar missions to other parts of the state last year after the devastating floods in the Midlands and coastal regions.

Battallion Chief Trey Hovis of the Rock Hill Fire Department was part of the crew that assisted in rescue efforts around Columbia after last year’s flooding. He is with the firefighters in Marion County this week.

Many of the people they’ve helped tried to ride out the storm in their homes and didn’t expect the water to rise as much as it did, Hovis said. Floodwaters in the area went up to the porches on some homes and completely flooded other homes.

“They seem to be in good spirits,” Hovis said of the people they’ve pulled to safety. “They’ve got their health, and a couple of them have their pets. They’re still optimistic.”

Hovis said the water in some areas continues to rise. They are prepared to stay in Marion County for several days, but he said the recovery will take much longer.

“A lot of people thought we got through and it seems like the storm’s over,” he said. “For a lot of these people in Marion County, they’re still in the middle of it. They’re dealing with a pretty big disaster.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 6:54 PM with the headline "‘Make the bad a little better’: Local responders aid parts of S.C. hit hardest by Matthew."