Thousands of tons of debris from this month’s flood have been hauled off, but in Kingstree earlier this week, debris lined a street outside a Screven Street house. Recovery from the flooding that stretched from the Midlands to Lowcountry and Pee Dee will take months for many, as outlined in today’s news story below. Photo by Linda W. Brown.
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS: Flood recovery will take months
BY THE NUMBERS: The Great Flood
COMMENTARY: Meet South Carolina’s newest state senator
SPOTLIGHT: ACLU
FEEDBACK: Letters on education, flood
SCORECARD: From Joe to Kevin to Trey to Ken
QUOTE: Deliciously stupid
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Walterboro, S.C.
NEWS
Flood recovery will take months
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
OCT. 23, 2015 | Thousands of South Carolina families will have a far different holiday season from usual thanks to October floods that inundated a swath of the state from the Midlands through the Pee Dee and Lowcountry.
As of this morning, only one river — the Waccamaw near Conway– was above flood stage some three weeks after trillions of gallons fell on the Carolinas over three days. S.C. Emergency Management Division spokesman Derrec Becker said the Santee fell out of flood stage Thursday night and the Waccamaw is expected to return to normal levels soon.
- BY THE NUMBERS: Get an idea of the massive impact of the flood by looking at available data. Click here.
Meanwhile for thousands, the recovery continues with some families facing what state Sen. Ronnie Sabb, D-Williamsburg, calls a “new normal,” especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Unfortunately, there are likely to be situations where folks don’t have the opportunity to enjoy their homes — their normal environment for the family during that special time of year,” he said. “There will be a new normal for a number of our citizens and residents.”
Kevin Shwedo, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles executive director who was named disaster recovery czar by Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday, said he didn’t believe every South Carolinian impacted by the disaster would be in a permanent home by Christmas, two months from now. It could be at least six months — or more — before recovery efforts conclude, he said.
“The best thing we can do as a community is to get our arms around those people who may not be in their permanent housing and give them the Christmas they deserve,” he said. “We can do that as a community.”
Lots of people need help
Across South Carolina, people who were flooded out of their homes are living with family members, friends and neighbors, or they have found a place to rent an apartment, home or motel. Some, such as people whose homes were on slabs near the Black River in Kingstree, never will return because rules will require them to be elevated at prohibitive costs. For others, it will take months to rip away moldy debris and repair it or build something new. Yet others without flood insurance in places where flooding was never expected, such as in Forest Acres in the Midlands, will have tough choices of whether to get loans to rebuild while paying existing mortgages or to come up with some other solution.
“The construction industry is going to be really good for the next six months,” said Tim Ervolina, president and CEO of the United Way Association of South Carolina.
The association, which operates the state’s 2-1-1 helpline, is being swamped with calls from people wanting help to find a meal or a place to stay. In September, the month before the flood, it received about 20,000 calls. Already this month, it has far exceeded that number. Ervolina said he expected his staff would field 40,000 to 50,000 calls for help by the end of the month — one of the few indicators available now of how many people are hurting.
“We already had an affordable housing crisis in this state before the storm,” Ervolina said. “When you think about the affordable housing units we lost, that makes the inventory of affordable housing worse.”
Disaster recovery officials say they’re still gathering data to determine the devastation to the state and should have more numbers soon.
“We’ve got to tap every available resource we can to see what and how we can help,” Sabb said of state and federal efforts.
Damage permeates Williamsburg County
In rural Williamsburg County, former newspaper editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree shares that life has changed for many who might not have flood damage.
The county library, for example, will be closed for two months.
“There was two feet of water throughout the building,” she said. “The insurance adjuster is insisting that the books have to remain in the library while the carpet and baseboards are replaced. ServPro is having to work around enough boxed books to fill a large U-Haul truck.”
James Dukes, who lives on a family farm in the Bloomingville community between Kingstree and Andrews, relates that peanuts, cotton and soybeans have been ruined throughout agricultural areas impacted by flooding. And this comes after a drought wiped out much of the corn crop, he added. Officials have estimated crop losses total more than $300 million across the state.
“I’ve heard older folks say they’ve never seen anything like this,” Dukes said. “It’s worse than Hurricane Hugo. A lot of these houses need to be gutted out and aired out. It’s going to be quite some time before some people get into their homes.”
If in doubt, register with FEMA
Shwedo, the new disaster recovery chief, urged residents impacted in any way by the flood to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure that they could get help down the road if something like mold developed in the weeks ahead.
“We’ve got a lot of people who have started the enrollment piece with FEMA, but that’s going to end quickly,” he said. “If you’re not enrolled, the bureaucracy is going to kill you.
“We have to get everybody who is even remotely touched registered. If in doubt, register. But if you get lazy [and don’t register] and all of a sudden find mold, there’s nothing anybody can be able to do.”
FEMA currently has 23 disaster recovery centers throughout the state where people can file for help.
- Click here to find the one nearest you.
Shwedo also urged residents who are interacting with FEMA, which has approved more than $45 million so far in direct aid, to be tough and challenge any claims that are denied.
The first inclination to everyone has got to be rebut it — immediately rebut it because a lot of the people rebutting it are getting money,” he said. “Persistence is going to save a lot of people in this state. None of us should accept no.”
Ervolina agreed, noting that the FEMA that was around 10 years ago after Hurricane Katrina is now smaller and underfunded.
“What we’ve got now is a tightly-controlled group designed to deny more claims than approve them,” he said.
Because FEMA grants generally are limited to $32,000 and loans to $200,000 for those who qualify, people eventually are going to wake up and feel they’ve been slapped across the face with a dead fish, he said. And that’s because FEMA has suffered as federal leaders pushed to shrink government.
“The consequences of that for South Carolina is that the uninsured losses are going to be staggering,” Ervolina predicted, adding that a special supplemental appropriation by Congress could help ameliorate a big part of the crisis.
Most of South Carolina’s U.S. congressmen and both U.S. senators voted against a similar measure to help Hurricane Sandy victims in the Northeast.
“I hope they don’t hold that against us when the time comes,” Ervolina said.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
BY THE NUMBERSThe Great Flood of 2015
Here is a look at the impact of the flood based on available data as of Oct. 23, 2015:
Meals served through Oct. 22: 1,506,973 by these four agencies:
- Harvest Hope Food Bank, 1,154,518 meals
- Lowcountry Food Bank: 328,558 meals
- American Red Cross: 70,759 meals; 75,866 snacks
- Salvation Army: 53,138 meals; 48,921 drinks; 41,658 snacks
Number of nonprofit emergency response vehicles: 45 each by American Red Cross and Salvation Army
Overnight stays via the American Red Cross: 4,748
People receiving emotional and spiritual care from Salvation Army: 2,254
Bridges still closed across S.C.: 37
Roads closed: 103 roads
Number of FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers: 23 across the state. Find a center near you.
Dollars approved by FEMA for individuals and households: $45,236,497.29 from 14,541 applications. Numbers are updated here.
Calls for help via 2-1-1: More than 20,000 this month; At least 40,000 calls expected by the end of the month — twice the usual amount.
Rivers still at flood stage: 1, the Waccamaw.
Number of National Guard members on recovery duty: 1,300. They are working in security and relief capacities. At the peak of disaster response, about 4,000 guardsmen were on special duty.
Shelters open: 1, Trinity Baptist Church, Cayce. As people have found lodging, dozens of shelters have been closed.
Cubic yards of debris removed since Oct. 12: 20,673 in 430 truckloads, according to S.C. Department of Transportation figures. Note: The figures may not include debris removed by municipalities.
SOURCES: S.C. Emergency Management Division, United Way Association of South Carolina.
COMMENTARYMeet South Carolina’s newest state senator
Bright Matthews to be second female in Senate
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
OCT. 23, 2015 | South Carolina currently has one senator named Bright and another named Matthews. On Monday, a Walterboro native with both names — Margie Bright Matthews — is expected to be sworn in as the state’s second female senator.
Bright Matthews, who won the Democratic nomination after a packed primary and a September runoff with state Rep. Kenneth Hodges, on Tuesday garnered 5,759 votes — 88.5 percent — of 6,509 cast to win the seat, which represents parts or all of Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
She will fill the seat held by the late Sen. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine church members killed June 17 in the Emanuel AME Church shooting.
Bright Matthews said she remembers getting angry when she heard about the death of Pinckney and eight members of his Charleston congregation.
“Then I thought, ‘Don’t get mad. Do something about it.’” she reflected this week after election excitement was wearing off and turning into a sense of being slightly overwhelmed by new responsibilities.
“I decided [then] that I can do this. It’s another way for me to serve.”
Barry Moore, publisher of The Press and Standard in Walterboro, said he couldn’t be happier that a Colleton County native will represent the region.
“As a newspaper guy, I’ve always enjoyed her transparency,” he said. “Margie is somebody who will do things the right way. Margie has got some vision. She really does think regionally.”
He said the attorney, who has practiced law for 26 years, would not be shy as a freshman in Columbia.
“She says it like she sees it. She’s outspoken and doesn’t mince words.”
Bright Matthews once served as a legislative page. She remembers getting to know Pinckney after he got elected and she visited the Statehouse on legislature-related business for local groups.
“Throughout the years, he was always someone, I could call on and he could call on me if we needed anything.” She said she supported his political career and was happy to get the support of some of his family members in her campaign.
She says she’ll serve in her own way in Columbia, but will remember how Pinckney listened to voters and tried to be proactive, not reactive, on issues.
“That’s what he always tried to do,” she said.
Bright Matthews, 52, said she has several priorities as a new state senator:
Education: “I would like to work on the education issue to make sure that our students in the Lowcountry are adequately funded. I’ve said throughout the campaign and throughout the stump that it’s deplorable that we spend $16,000 per inmate and only $11,000 per student. And we wonder why we have one of the poorest educational systems in the country.”
Economic development: “Until we get our infrastructure [in place], we cannot expect in the Lowcountry to have the companies even look at our area. The Department of Commerce is not even going to give them our name.”
Justice: “I would like to make sure everyone has equal access to the civil justice system.”
Senior health care: She said she was concerned about how some nursing homes owned by large, out-of-state corporations made families sign away rights for redress if a loved one were to be hurt or neglected. “They’re forcing people to sign arbitration clauses, which means you don’t get jury trials. That’s wrong, it goes against our Constitution. Mandatory arbitration clauses for nursing homes is not right. … They’re creating these facilities, understaffing them and the people are just dying with no recourse. That is something that bothers me. It really bothers me.”
In a state long dominated by white male leaders, it’s heartening that another woman’s voice will be added to the debate in our state Senate. But with 52 percent of the state’s population being women, it’s also kind of a shame that Bright Matthews is doubling the number of women senators now serving, not joining a vibrant Women’s Caucus of two dozen female senators.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Send feedback to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTACLU of South Carolina
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. This week’s spotlighted underwriter is the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of South Carolina’s National Office in Charleston is dedicated to preserving the civil liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Through communications, lobbying and litigation, the ACLU South Carolina’s National Office works to preserve and enhance the rights of all citizens of South Carolina. Foremost among these rights are freedom of speech and religion, the right to equal treatment under law, and the right to privacy.
What can South Carolinians so be proud about?
To the editor:
Just read your article [Brack, Stop shortchanging South Carolina] in the Wednesday, Oct. 14 edition of the Hartsville Messenger, which our neighbor passes on to us.
You have so hit the nail on the head. We moved to Hartsville last November to be near my brother who’s lived here about 35 years. I have never been so disappointed in anything in my life as I’ve been in our move to South Carolina. Had I known that taxes are higher here than in Georgia, we would have never moved. And I cannot see what on earth the tax money is spent on – it’s certainly not roads, which are the absolute pits.
The sales tax in Darlington County is 8 percent. Georgia’s highest counties are 7 percent — 1 percent of that is for education. Now Darlington County has added a 2 percent hospitality tax so if you eat in any restaurant, even Subway, you wind up paying 10 percent sales tax.
In Georgia, ad valorem tax on vehicles was rescinded in 2013. The 2012 vehicles were grandfathered in if you paid an additional tax which, in my case on a 2012 Cruze, meant I paid $135 to never have to pay property tax again on my vehicle. Moved here and immediately had to pay $270 tax to get a tag. And this will be ongoing every year. For what? Sure can’t see it in the roads!
And homeowner’s and vehicle insurance are higher here too.
Lived in Georgia 70 years of my life and I never thought of it as a progressive state until moving to South Carolina. This place strikes me as the most podunk place we could have moved to. What are the people here so proud of – it can’t be the roads, it can’t be the tax structure, so what is it?
— Marilyn Davis, Hartsville, S.C.
Flooding not really caused by hurricane
To the editor:
I really enjoyed the latest issue of Statehouse Report. One correction is needed to the transportation/flooding article. Ask any meteorologist and they will tell you that a weather system separately from Hurricane Joaquin created the flooding. There was incidental moisture from the hurricane, however, it was not the cause.
— Ed Greenleaf, Columbia, S.C.
Thanks for coverage of critical issues
To the editor:
Thank you so much for writing on these critical issues now made even more so by recent weather damage.
Today my daughter, considering moving here from Boston, called from the road on Interstate 77 traveling to Winston Salem. She was so aghast at her experience on I-26 — what she called white-knuckle driving. That says a lot considering her being from Massachusetts.
— Harriet Smartt, Isle of Palms, S.C.
Send us a letter. We love hearing from our readers and encourage you to share your opinions. Letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. We generally publish all comments about South Carolina politics or policy issues, unless they are libelous or unnecessarily inflammatory. One submission is allowed per month. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters to: feedback@statehousereport.com
From Joe to Kevin to Trey to Ken
Thumbs up
Thanks, Joe. Folks in Charleston will meet Sunday at the Charleston Riverdogs’ stadium for a big, free event to thank Mayor Joe Riley for his four decades of service as mayor. A new mayor will be picked Nov. 3.
Haley. Smart idea, governor, to put former Gen. Kevin Shwedo in charge of disaster recovery.
Port. A new study shows state port facilities and companies that use them have a $53 billion impact on the state’s economy. Wow. Keep it up.
Bright Williams. Congratulations to the state’s newest senator, Margie Bright Williams, a Democrat from Walterboro.
In the middle
Gowdy. To some, U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., is a vigilant fighter who is holding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s feet to the fire over the mess at Benghazi, Libya. But a growing number of people seem to be viewing the GOP special investigation as shrill, increasingly meaningless, too partisan — or worse. Republicans hoped to help themselves, but may actually have shot their party in the foot among regular voters now wondering where real leadership is.
DSS. The state’s troubled Department of Social Services, plagued for years by problems, says it needs $33 million more for 157 new full-time positions and other improvements. We wish they would have been asked for a long time ago for lots of reasons.
Thumbs down
Consumers’ Choice. It’s sad to hear that this health insurance co-op is closing down next year due to the imbalance of paid premiums and the cost of claims. Some 67,000 South Carolinians will be impacted.
Burger. We mourn the passing of Allendale native Ken Burger. The respected sports columnist, who covered the political beat for The News and Courier years ago, lost a long battle with cancer this week just two days before his 66th birthday. Rest in peace.
QUOTEDeliciously stupid
“[Georgia] O’Keeffe hated South Carolina. She called it ‘deliciously stupid,’ but she loved nature. It was here in Columbia, far away from what art historians call the ‘anxiety of influence,’ that she took a moment to analyze everything she had painted up until that point, and to reject it. She spread everything on the floor in her room and noticed that each of her paintings reflected the techniques and styles and subject matter of her instructors. It occurred to her that she had ideas of her own.”
— Columbia Museum of Art Chief Curator Will South, whose facility is hosting a groundbreaking exhibit on the modernist art of Georgia O’Keefe, Charleston City Paper.
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIAWalterboro
S.C. Encyclopedia | Just after the Revolutionary War, rice planters along the Edisto, Combahee, and Ashepoo Rivers, tired of an annual summer jaunt of fifty miles to Charleston, created an alternate refuge from the malarial swamps closer to home. By the 1790s, among local forests and freshwater springs, they built a village of about twenty log houses, which they called Walterboro, after two brothers whose retreat was prominent among them. A parish house for the conduct of public business was authorized in 1796, a sign that the healthy landscape had attracted permanent residents.
Owing to the skill and labor of black slaves and the profits from rice and indigo, the planters and town both prospered. In 1817 centrally located Walterboro succeeded Jacksonboro as the Colleton District seat. An elegant brick courthouse designed by Robert Mills entered service in 1822, followed in quick succession by stores, a tavern, and a library. In 1826 Walterboro was incorporated, with boundaries extending “3/4 of a mile in every direction from the Walterborough Library” and a municipal government consisting of an elected council and intendant (mayor).
Walterboro was a hotbed of states’ rights sentiment in the antebellum years when the North and the South dueled over tariffs, western expansion, and slavery. In 1828 Robert Barnwell Rhett launched the nullification movement at the Walterboro Courthouse. In 1861 the white men of Walterboro shouldered rifles and went to war to defend their beliefs and interests. Four years later the vanquished remnant came home to find slavery dead, agriculture in decline, whites poorer, and freed slaves accounting for more than half the Walterboro population of 834.
Despite a short boom in phosphate mining from the 1880s through 1910s and the rise of more durable forest industries, prosperity proved elusive. In the 1880s, when house lots were still fenced to contain livestock and baseball and brass bands were the rage, the town got a railroad spur that connected Walterboro to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Town councils passed laws protecting pine trees and Sundays and also installed oil lamps before switching to electric lights in 1915, about the time gasoline cars appeared. The two primary streets were paved in 1921.
In the latter decades of the twentieth century, Walterboro added population and wealth as it developed jobs in construction and light industry as well as public services, such as the $28 million Department of Veteran’s Affairs Nursing Home. The high school was integrated and established itself as a football power in the 1970s, just as Colleton County was traversed by a new federal highway, Interstate 95. But if the old town was fading, links to the past survived. The farmers’ market was still a central institution. Townspeople held fast to traditional ties of family and church. Hunting was a favored pastime.
– Excerpted from the entry by Laylon Wayne Jordan. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
CREDITSEditor and Publisher: Andy Brack
Senior Editor: Bill Davis
Contributing Photographers: Michael Kaynard, Linda W. Brown
Phone: 843.670.3996
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!