Flood damage tops $10 million for Horry County homeowners; $1.5 million for public infrastructure

Betty Skeen hopes to be home by Christmas.

More than two feet of water filled her Little River house during October’s flood, forcing the 79-year-old to move out until everything could be renovated.

“They had to gut the whole inside,” she said Nov. 20, a day after contractors put up fresh drywall. “This house was the worst. .... The others all had damage, but this one — everything.”

Nearly two months after the historic deluge, residents and Grand Strand officials are still trying to recover. In unincorporated Horry County, the October flood swept into 410 homes, which suffered about $10.8 million in damage, according to county estimates. That amount doesn’t include the $1.6 million of destruction done to county roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.

“It’s about as much rain as we got during [Hurricane] Floyd, but it came down much harder and much faster,” said Tom Garigen, the county’s stormwater manager, referring to the 1999 disaster. “It caused a lot more problems, immediate problems, than Floyd did.”

In the northeastern part of the county, some areas saw as much as 24 inches of rain in a two-day period. The communities with the highest numbers of damaged properties were Socastee (151 homes), Little River (117 homes) and Garden City Beach (41 homes).

“That heavy rain was really what impacted a lot of folks,” said Randy Webster, the county’s emergency management director. “Folks that did not live in the actual flood plain had a lot of issues to deal with.”

Although county residents saw the most flood damage, some city homeowners also suffered losses. In Myrtle Beach, 24 homes were damaged, costing about $2.8 million. North Myrtle Beach saw $1.2 million in damage to homes and businesses.

In Conway, just 11 residences experienced problems from flooding, although there were 58 homes in areas near the city that were damaged.

Despite the devastation caused by flash flooding, officials said most areas drained quickly. In many cases, the water stayed in subdivision roads or, when it did reach a home, remained in a garage or carport.

“Most of the damage was very minor,” County Administrator Chris Eldridge said.

Immediately after the flood, County Councilman Johnny Vaught began asking homeowners how long it took for the water to recede. Most said a few hours.

“Yeah, it looked bad and everything, but in three hours it was gone,” he said. “I said, ‘The drainage system’s working. Because the good Lord sent you 20 inches of rain in two days.’”

Vaught also said many residents were pleased with local officials’ response.

“Nobody accused us of sitting back and letting this stuff go on,” he said. “Everybody that’s talked to me about how quick the reaction was.”

County officials are working with FEMA to determine how much federal money they can obtain to cover the losses.

Assistant County Administrator Justin Powell said early estimates show about $1.6 million in infrastructure and facilities damage. He also noted that the county spent about $600,000 on overtime and emergency materials during the flood.

The federal government typically reimburses local governments for 75 percent of those expenses, meaning the county hopes to get about $1.65 million from FEMA.

Powell said the state sometimes provides disaster relief funding to make up the difference, but the county hasn’t received any indication of what action state officials will take, if any.

County officials hope to submit a complete request to FEMA by early next year, though Powell noted it could take months or even years to receive that money. However, FEMA has already provided the county with nearly $150,000 in emergency reimbursements.

Apart from the government’s dealings with FEMA, residents have until Friday to apply for disaster aid.

Officials are encouraging those affected by the storm in any way to sign up with FEMA because there are many assistance programs available.

“It’s not necessarily just the floodwater impacting your home,” said Webster, the emergency management director. “There are other options out there.”

Statewide, more than 82,000 people have registered with FEMA, including over 4,100 from Horry. Locally, officials have received nearly $3 million in federal assistance.

At this point, homeowners like Skeen are just trying to move on.

During the flood, she lost furniture, clothes and appliances.

“Everything was contaminated and toxic,” she said.

Her Copenhagen Drive house can’t be fixed quickly enough. Since the storm, she’s had to live apart from her beloved border collie Sara Su.

“I go see her every weekend,” she said. “I tell her I love her and we’ll soon come home.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 7:57 AM with the headline "Flood damage tops $10 million for Horry County homeowners; $1.5 million for public infrastructure."