South Carolina, the federal government and nonprofits are teaming up this month to host "one-stop" shops that aim to connect residents and businesses with assistance because of Hurricane Helene.
The described "county days" start this week in the Upstate, and will continue in other impacted parts of the state through the month.
In addition to state officials and nonprofits, the Federal Emergency Management Administration will be on hand to help residents fill out applications for individual assistance.
Representatives with the Small Business Administration will also be present to provide business owners with information about disaster loans, and the state resiliency office will offer case managers to link those impacted by Helene with disaster relief.
Marcia Adams, director of the state Department of Administration, said Monday there also will be other state agencies present to help with mental health assistance, environmental services, resources for seniors, veterans and children and information about insurance and unemployment benefits.
- Wednesday, Oct. 9: Clemson University Littlejohn Coliseum (serving Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 10: USC Upstate Health Education Complex (serving Cherokee and Spartanburg counties) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 11: Greenville Tech Student Success Center (serving Greenville County) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Additional "Team South Carolina" days will be scheduled the week of Oct. 14 and the week of Oct. 21, Adams said. The state's Emergency Management Division, the Office of Resilience and the Department of Administration are working to coordinate days, times and locations, she added.
Many South Carolinians are still dealing with Helene's impact, from damaged homes to power outages.
The state is reporting between 48,000 and 51,000 power outages as of Monday afternoon. So far 29 counties have reported damage to more than 5,200 homes.
Of those, state EMD Director Kim Stenson said 300 have been reported as destroyed, and more than 1,700 have been reported as having major damage. The higher number of reports stem from Aiken, Greenville and Spartanburg counties.
Meanwhile, 16 counties have reported some level of damage to more than 160 businesses.
Stenson said Monday that public assistance costs — that's debris, infrastructure damage and emergency protective measure costs — reported by 38 counties comes to more than $250 million.
Gov. Henry McMaster said Monday that 23 counties are covered for individual assistance: Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Union and York counties and the Catawba Indian Nation.
Twenty-nine counties — Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chester, Colleton, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Union, Williamsburg and York counties and the Catawba Indian Nation — are covered for public assistance.
More counties could be added, state officials said.
Brett Howard, the federal coordinating officer with FEMA who is working with South Carolina, said the quickest way for people to apply for federal assistance is either online at disasterassistance.gov, calling their hotline at 1-800-621-3362, or applying through FEMA's app.
"This is assistance for homeowners, for renters to help with ... temporary repair of your home," Howard said.
Howard said FEMA also has disaster assistance teams throughout impacted counties in South Carolina. Those teams, Howard added, are working in coordination with state officials.
Howard said FEMA has already approved millions of dollars in assistance.
But if someone gets a denial letter in the mail, Howard urged people to read the letter carefully and avoid throwing the letter away. The reason for denial could be as simple as someone forgot a number in their Social Security number or the zip code is missing, he said.
"Call us," Howard said. "We will work with you through this situation."
Howard also sought to tamp down on misinformation that's flooded social media about FEMA assistance, saying that FEMA officials are working in coordination with state and local officials.
"We don't freelance," Howard said, adding FEMA does not go around asking for money.
"We bring you the money and the resources," he said.
Agencies at "Team SC" events:
- S.C. Department of Agriculture
- S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
- S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs
- S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce
- S.C. Department of Environmental Services
- S.C. Department of Health and Human Services
- S.C. Department of Insurance
- S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- S.C. Department of Mental Health
- S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles
- S.C. Department of Public Health
- S.C. Department of Social Services
- S.C. Department on Aging
- S.C. Emergency Managing Division
- S.C. Housing Authority
- S.C. Office of Resilience
- FEMA
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- United Way Association of South Carolina/AmeriCorps SC and local chapters
- One SC Fund
- Other state and local nonprofit groups
Source: S.C. Governor's Office
