© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Ongoing coverage of South Carolina's recovery from the flooding of 2015.What had been Lindsay Langdale's Columbia home October 3, 2015 was a flooded ruin the next day.This coverage is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In October of 2015, South Carolina received rainfall in unprecedented amounts over just a few days time. By the time the rain began to slacken, the National Weather Service reported that the event had dumped more than two feet of water on the state. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the subsequent flooding was the worst in 75 years.

Richland Co. Opens Registration For Homeowner Flood Recovery. Almost Half of Available Slots Filled

Parking Outside Richland County Administration Building May 15.
Thelisha Eaddy/ SC Public Radio
Parking Outside Richland County Administration Building May 15.

Day two of intakes for Richland County’s homeowner flood recovery program brought in almost half the number of registrations that county will accept. Around Midday Tuesday, the county had accepted ‘just shy of 300” registrations, that’s according to Public Information Coordinator Natasha Lemon.

The county was expecting a large influx of residents on day one of intakes. South Carolina Public Radio spoke with the County’s long-term disaster recovery director Mike King at Noon; he said there was more of a steady stream.

“We really didn’t have a large crowd; it’s been steady. Right now we’re over 250 registrations.”

The official intake period will last through June 15, or until the County reaches 600 applications.

“The day we reach 600, we’re going to go ahead and continue until five o’clock; so we can have over 600 registrations,” King said.

Monday, May 15: County officials on hand to help residents with intakes.
Credit Thelisha Eaddy/SC Public Radio
Monday, May 15: County officials on hand to help residents with intakes.

Registrations are accepted on the first floor of the County administration building at 2020 Hampton Street in downtown Columbia. Residents can also register by emailing the completed form to RichlandCountyCDBGDR@sites.tetratech.com, or by mailing the completed form to Richland County Government, CDBG-DR Office, 1st Floor, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia, SC 29204.

The recovery program is called Returning Home and is funded through a Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) through the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Low to moderate income residents are a priority for this federal aid. Returning Home will either repair homes or replace mobile homes that have more than $5,000 in flood damages. Even thought the county will only accept 600 applications, the program will only be able to help a fraction of those who registered.

“We anticipate the actual final number will be around 175 to 200- that we actually do rebuilds and rehabs and replace mobile homes with the amount of money we have,” King said.

The county has requested an additional $57.5 million in funding to assist in continuing flood recovery.

“We do not have a firm timeline on when to expect a determination regarding our request; however, we hope to have a response in 60-90 days,” King said.