In Lexington County, Kinley Creek starts north of Highway 60 and ends in the Saluda River. The path of the creek runs behind several houses in the Challedon community. Long-time residents say during heavy rains, rushing waters enter their homes and erode their yards. These residents say they’ve dealt with flooding since the late 1990s and are ready for a permanent solution. ThelishaEaddy reports on how the county could use disaster recovery funds from the historic flood of October of 2015, to help these residents solve their flooding issues for good.
When I opened my car door, the water rushed in. This was in April of 1998...
Janet Heath lived at 1220 Baffin Bay Drive for 17 years. She said less than a month after she moved into her home, it flooded during a heavy rain.
"I walked down my steps. When I got to my second step, it [water] was to my ankles. The further I walked
down, it was up to my knees. When I opened my car door, the water rushed in. This was in April of 1998. I moved there March of 1998."
A History of Flooding
The devastation caused by the flooding of Kinley Creek and two of its tributaries, K-1 and K-2 is well documented. Studies of the issue were conducted in 1983, 1987 and 1995. In January of 2013, Lexington County requested the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) Charleston District to conducta study of the long term issues related to the flooding of the creek, K-1 and K-2. The cost of the study totaled $322,000 and was shared equally between Lexington County and Charleston District, each responsible for $166,000.
The results of this study were released in August 2015, two months and two days before the October 2015 flood. The executive summary of the report states no one alternative could address the flooding issues.
Due to the geographic variability and build out of the project area, no single alternative proved cost effective to both reduce flooding and remove structures out of the floodplain. It is recommended that implementation of the initial following measures will address the flooding within the project area: • Focus on protecting structures in 10-yr floodplain • Acquire structures that have history of repetitive loses • Modify channel adjacent to Broken Hill Rd. & downstream of Piney Grove Rd. • Construct pond offline of K-1 These initial steps would lower surface water elevations within portions of the floodplain and remove structures out of the floodplain. These measures also have the advantage of possessing a very positive cost to benefit ratio, ensuring a return on the capital invested.
Lexington County was awarded $16.3 million dollars in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The county’s CDBG-DR Program Overview is available online at http://www.lex-co.sc.gov.
"Home buy-outs will be our major emphasis, because we've found that that's what our community is really looking for," said Charles Garren, Lexington County Director of Community Development.
Page 20 of the overview details the current recommendation on how the county's disaster recovery funds should be used. Targeted home buy-outs total $6 million dollars, or 36.7% of the awarded funds from HUD.Click here to read the entire CDBG-DR Program Overview Presentation by Lexington County.
According to the overview, homeowners would be offered the pre-storm value of their houses. The amount of any previous funds homeowners may have received to do repairs to the house would be deducted from the offer. Homeowners would be offered moving and purchase assistance. The proposed buy-out program will be voluntary.
During a recent flood recovery meeting, county officials distributed surveys to learn what unmet needs flood survivors in the county were still dealing with.
"As far as surveys, I'll say 100% of surveys we've received have come from people who have said yes, we want to talk to you about a buy-out."
Garren said hearing from people at recent stakeholder meetings and community meetings has further convinced him that buy-outs will be the most impactful way to use the county's CDBG-DR funds.
"There are a lot of people who have been through this kind of thing a lot of times, in terms of flooding, and they are looking for a way out."
Almost one year after the flood, Janet Heath still hasn't moved back to 1220 Baffin Bay Road and is looking for the buy-out of her home to be her way out.
Heath says a lot of her backyard has been washed away from frequent flooding.
"It starts from back there and it hits a curve of some type and comes straight through this area and just washes straight across."
Heath shares she is not one hundred percent sure about anything, but feels there is a high probability she would be offered a buy-out. "We are in the waterway," she stressed.
Residents Share Their Stories
Heath is not alone. The map below shows the locations of four homes in two of Lexington County's hardest-hit flood areas, Challedon and Whitehall. The homeowners of these properties share what life is like living along the K-1 and K-2 tributaries of Kinley Creek.
Not a Silver Bullet
According to Garren, right now, the county would be able to offer between 50 to 60 home buy-outs. But the director cautions, the possible buy-outs will not be a silver bullet for everyone.
"There are a lot of factors to consider, [including] previous funding that they [ the homeowner] may have received from another organization or agency." Garren said the amounts of previous funding granted to homeowners to do repairs on the house would be deducted from the what the county would offer in the buy-out. Other factors include "whether there's a mortgage on the home. The homeowner will be responsible for making sure there is a clear title. So, what we offer them, a large portion of that may be going towards satisfying that mortgage."
the county has created a rating system to help identify which houses would qualify for buy-outs
Garren said the county has created a rating system to help identify which houses would qualify for buy-outs.
"Every house that applies, we'll apply the same grading system to them." Two factors the system will account for are "damage that resulted from the October flood and a second factor is previous damage from previous flooding situations," he added.
The county's action plan is due to HUD on the 20th of September and then "HUD has 60 days that they can take to review and approve that plan." Garren anticipates CDBG-DR funds will be available by the end of November.
"There will be an approval process that they will have to go through." Once the plan has been approved, the money will then become available to the county." Before then, Garren said the county will be accepting applications and conducting intakes. The community director said his goal is to be able to make a real positive impact on somebody by Christmas.
Links and Resources
Lexington County Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery Timeline