Why Helene storm damage may leave York County short of federal help — again
After Helene, York County may end up short of what it takes to qualify for federal help — again.
As of Tuesday York County did not have enough reported damage or destroyed homes to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance under federal guidelines, county emergency management director Chuck Haynes said in a video message released by the county on its social media.
The county has to prove dollar amounts for FEMA help after a disaster, Haynes said. That would include government costs from the storm, and individual damages for people and businesses. Those numbers typically reach into the millions of dollars, with numbers of buildings destroyed part of the equation, too.
“Right now we are not seeing enough numbers for that to happen,” Haynes said.
The county finds itself in a similar situation to earlier this year after an April hailstorm ripped through southern Rock Hill. That storm caused several million dollars in damage to houses and businesses, but it didn’t meet the threshold the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires.
County officials are still seeking Helene property damage reports from the public and assessing damage in hopes York County would meet thresholds for both government and individual aid, county spokesman Greg Suskin said.
Federal money could help people to pay for damages to homes or businesses - if there is enough damage to personal property. Federal aid to local governments could help recoup costs of overtime, equipment and others costs, if there is enough cost associated with the storm, Haynes said.
Report Helene damage
York County Emergency Management has set up a website for damage reports. The public can report property damage and post pictures from the storm, which will help the county in continued cleanup and recovery efforts. The public can also call emergency management at 803-326-2300 to ask for officials to look at damaged property.
“It helps us track and create the request to FEMA for that individual assistance,” Haynes said.
S.C. Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-Rock Hill, said many western South Carolina counties had enough damage that qualified for the FEMA aid to South Carolina. Guffey said he was in contact with the governor’s office and urged the public to report and damage it has to York County officials.
“Reporting the damage is crucial if we are to qualify,” Guffey said.
On Tuesday, the Small Business Administration approved low-interest loans for York County businesses, homeowners, and renters, Haynes said. It is still unclear when SBA will announce details about when those loans will be available.
Winds reached over 50 miles per hour Friday and some areas in York County had as much as seven inches of rain. A Clover woman died over the weekend when she was hit by a truck while clearing a road, officials said. A Rock Hill man had to be pulled from his home by emergency crews after a tree fell into his home.
The Catawba River flooded in places, including Catawba Park in Tega Cay and parts of Riverwalk in Rock Hill.
Power outages
Most people in the Rock Hill region had power restored by Tuesday after some went without for days.
Around 750 customers from Duke Energy and York Electric Cooperative remained without power Tuesday after noon, with most of them in rural areas, according to outage maps from the utilities and Poweroutage.us, an aggregator of utility outages. Rock Hill Utilities had only a handful of outages Tuesday.
The cooperative was down to fewer than 600 outages after a high of almost 30,000 during the brunt of the storm on Friday.
“We can see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Marc Howie, York cooperative vice president.
It remains unclear when all customers will have power restored.
There were just a few pockets of outages remaining Tuesday in Lancaster and Chester counties, according to the outage maps.
Schools
All area school districts re-opened Monday or Tuesday except for the York school district, which canceled classes and events again Tuesday because two school buildings and a significant number of students and staff were without power Monday night.
The district said in a statement around 1 p.m. Tuesday school will resume Wednesday after power was restored to all campuses.
Lancaster and Chester damage
The Lancaster County appears to have been spared major damage but assessment is ongoing, according to Stephanie Snowden, deputy county administrator.
Ander Vincent Road in the Indian Land panhandle area had a culvert destroyed in the storm that has blocked the road at a creek crossing, said Jeff Catoe, public service administrator. Access is still available on both sides of the damage to S.C. 75 or into North Carolina in Union County, Catoe said. No residents are cut off from homes, Catoe said.
The road will remain closed at the creek until repairs can be made, Catoe said.
Chester County also is in the midst of damage assessment but avoided major damage, said Ed Darby, emergency management director. Two houses had trees on roofs but the houses were not destroyed, Darby said.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
