More homeowners in flood zones can sell their homes if Horry expands buyout program

Horry County officials are looking to expand its buyout program for homeowners living in flood-prone areas.

Last summer, the county received $13 million through the state’s Office of Resilience to accommodate buyouts for up to 60 homes in the Socastee area.

Residents who chose to sell were paid pre-storm market value, then their homes were demolished and converted to green space.

As of Oct. 7, a total of 37 properties have either been sold or are under contract, county program managers said.

But residents in other areas have also expressed interest in buyouts, according to Beth Tranter, the county’s community development director.

“We do have people in other areas of Horry County that are interested in buyouts,” she said, “and so we’re continuing to work with individuals who feel they need to get out of harm’s way, and that’s the solution for them.”

Tranter’s agency is asking the state for an additional $1.65 million in aid to expand the program outside of Socastee, she told a county council subcommittee on Friday. It wasn’t immediately known how many more homes that would enable the county to buy.

The Office of Resilience was created in 2020 in the aftermath of hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

Horry County is especially susceptible to coastal and river flooding, with water taking up 9 percent of its 1,134 square miles, according to its flood prevention plan.

Socastee, a Census-designated area of more than 22,000 along the Intracoastal Waterway, has the county’s highest number of properties identified as “repetitive loss” due to flooding, the county’s flood mitigation plan says.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency defines a repetitive loss as any property that’s had two paid flood claims of at least $1,000 since 1978.

The buyout program is highly competitive — and future payouts will be adjusted to reflect current market values as an added incentive to sell, Tranter said.

“Because the market has been so hot lately, we became concerned that residents wouldn’t actually be able to relocate if all they were receiving was pre-storm value on their homes,” she said.

State Rep. Kevin Hardee, R-Conway, said moving people away from flood corridors using public money isn’t sustainable as the state looks to protect itself from future weather events.

“I know the state’s got a lot of money right now, but they don’t have the money to buy everybody out, so we’re going to leave some people behind if we take the perspective, ‘we’re going to buy this property and that property,’” he said Friday.

“I think we have to look at the problems instead of these piecemeal solutions because we can’t buy everybody out and when we do, we’re going to give them a value much less than what they paid.”

Residents interested in applying for the buyout program can visit the county’s website.