FEMA grants $9.9 million to Surfside Beach to rebuild destroyed pier

The Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to grant the Town of Surfside Beach nearly $10 million to rebuild the town's pier that Hurricane Matthew destroyed.

"This has been a long and much anticipated process for the town," Mayor Bob Childs said during a press conference on Friday. "I, along with council, am really excited to see this finally come about."

Childs said the total value of the grant is $9,947,221, which includes the complete replacement of the pier, upgrades to current codes and structures, along with improvements to better protect the pier from future storms.

"The mitigation measures include possible features such as rebuilding the pier structure in concrete, elevating the pier to current required design flood elevation, and increasing the structural capacity of the pier to resist future storm surges and to count for sea level rise," Childs added.

Since Hurricane Matthew damaged more than half of the pier in October 2016, the town has been working with FEMA to determine how much assistance it would get to rebuild it.

Childs predicts it will take over a year to rebuild the pier.

"I honestly believe that this pier will probably be the best pier along the Grand Strand once it's completed," he said.

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 6:16 PM with the headline "FEMA grants $9.9 million to Surfside Beach to rebuild destroyed pier."