Horry County receives $15M for flood recovery, home buyout program

In the coming months, more than 60 Horry County residents will be able to leave their flood-afflicted homes for good and move elsewhere, thanks to millions of dollars coming to the county to aid in flood recovery.

The money, $15.6 million in total, will help fund a home buyout program for residents whose homes have flooded several times in recent years, and who want to move out. More than $13 million of the funds will pay for around 60 home buyouts, mostly in Socastee along the Intracoastal Waterway. Residents in those neighborhoods, including Rosewood, Bridge Creek and Lawson’s Landing, filled out interest forms a year ago and now Horry County is receiving funding — via the federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office (DRO) — to purchase those homes.

At a meeting Tuesday, a DRO committee voted to approve Horry County’s application for flood recovery funds, which came from the Community Development Block Grant Mitigation program, run by HUD.

Residents who didn’t fill out an interest form last year will still be able to apply for the program, the county said Tuesday. Other residents outside the Socastee area can apply directly with the state for relocation funding. County officials will hold a seminar on the program on March 23 at 3 p.m. in addition to intake meetings in affected areas. Those who filled out an interest form last year will be contacted directly by the county, though others can apply on their own.

Under the program, Horry County will purchase homes and properties from residents who have flooded multiple times in recent years, allowing the residents to move elsewhere. The county will demolish the homes it purchases and clear the land, and future builders will be barred from building on the land. Cam Crawford, the county council member who represents the area, said he’d like to see some of the land used for a park or nature trail.

The remainder of the $15 million, about $2.4 million, is dedicated to infrastructure projects in the Cowford Swamp area to prevent future flooding, near Bucksport.

“Our community in Socastee has been devastated by flooding over the past few years,” state Rep. Heather Ammons Crawford said at the meeting. “This is going to be big for a lot of the communities that continue to experience this repetitive flooding.”

Kelly Moore, a county spokesperson, said Tuesday that the county was waiting on DRO for more information before it could set a timeline for the program.

In recent weeks, the Bucksport and Socastee areas flooded again after several days of consistent, heavy rain. Some residents in those areas have had their homes flood multiple times, a problem Gov. Henry McMaster acknowledged Tuesday.

“Just as soon as they finish mucking out their house and moving their furniture back in, here comes another flood and they have to start all over again,” he said.

The flooding is caused, in large part, by the Waccamaw River and Intracoastal Waterway not draining quickly enough when rain or a storm increases their volume of water. That’s a symptom of Horry County’s lack of elevation, meaning water meanders through this part of the water shed slowly as it heads south to Winyah Bay.

The funding allocation by DRO is the first of several, and Horry County could receive more money for relocation efforts or other flood recovery projects as the agency processes additional applications. This round of funding also included money for flood recovery projects in the Town of Cheraw, and the DRO still has more than $20 million left to distribute.

News of the funding allocation Tuesday was met with relief and praise by the Socastee-area’s local and state representatives.

“Horry and Georgetown Counties have been hit disproportionately by the last decade of flooding and I know we’re all ready for some relief,” said state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, who represents parts of Horry and Georgetown counties. “This approval guarantees homeowners will get relief and I couldn’t be more proud to have been a part of this effort.”

Added Ammons-Crawford: “This relocation program is a key component to address flooding in the Socastee community and is a practical solution that will provide relief to those living in vulnerable flood areas. This issue has been a top priority for me and our area, and I appreciate Gov. McMaster’s commitment and attention to the problem. I look forward to continuing my work on this issue and helping to facilitate the process.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 2:39 PM.