CHARLESTON — Charleston County is starting a new program to help homeowners whose homes were damaged by recent natural disasters.
In February, the county received $928,000 in grant money from the S.C. Housing Trust Fund’s Disaster Assistance Program, which is designed to address housing recovery needs after extreme weather-related disasters.
Anyone in living in the county is eligible to apply whose home has been damaged by a storm.
LoElla Smalls, county director of community development and revitalization, said county staff will go out to areas that have demonstrated the most urgent needs for assistance — Adams Run, Hollywood, Johns Island, St. Paul’s Fire District and Edisto Island — and encourage homeowners to apply for the funding.
County staff confirmed those areas were the most vulnerable after collecting combination of data after Tropical Storm Debby. This included looking through calls made to building inspection services, service requests, emergency calls and media coverage.
Flooding in these areas was so severe following the storm that wells were inundated with floodwater and required bleaching and test kits to make sure the water was clean, said Ben Webster, county deputy director of emergency management.
The Edisto River flooding surpassed 17 feet, only half a foot shy of breaking a record from 1925, also causing homes and cars to be water-filled.
“There were entire roads that were washed over, so it was incredibly difficult for people to get out of their houses,” Webster said. “We did several water rescues where boats or high-water vehicles went out to get people out of their homes.”
Webster said some residents are still working on clean up or renovations for their homes, so the new program will be helpful.
Support from the program is an option only for homeowners whose house was damaged specifically by a storm, Smalls said. If a house is damaged due to deferred maintenance, it isn’t eligible.
County staff will collect applications from low-to-moderate-income homeowners who qualify for the Housing Trust Fund program, or those with earning at or below 80 percent of the area’s median income. The AMI for a family of four in Charleston County is $110,900. Smalls said special consideration will be given to heirs’ property sites.
Applicants will then be randomly selected to receive funding. Smalls added the most the county can spend on one house is $30,000.
County Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt, whose district includes parts of Johns Island, said this program is especially important for residents who may not be able to afford repairs after a storm to help keep their house livable.
“We are particularly vulnerable on the coast,” she said. “It’s really important to have a program like this in place, where our vulnerable residents are able to take advantage of making those quick repairs so that things don’t get worse.”
Honeycutt is optimistic the new program will help residents who applied to other county housing repair programs and haven’t received funding.
Charleston County will accept applications from May 13 to May 27. Residents can email housing@charlestoncounty.org to request an application.
