Just before Tropical Storm Helene tore a path through the western Carolinas in September, a violent microburst hit Greenville County.
High winds and short, heavy rainfall toppled trees and powerlines and set the stage for much more destruction two days later when Helene showed up.
It was during this first storm that Sylvia Vandross and her son had to flee, because a tree cracked the front and side of their house in Greenville City and left a hole big enough for Helene’s soaking rains to pour into the residence.
Vandross stayed a few days with one of her older daughters; her son stayed with his uncle. Then the two got a hotel for two weeks, which ended up costing her more than $1,700 just for the stay, from which she has yet to return home.
For meals, Vandross “picked up little things that we could eat [and] bought meals,” she said. But given that ordering out started to run $40 or more every day, she bought food that the two of them could eat that didn’t require a full kitchen.
All told, Vandross said the cost of evacuating from the storm, for just those first two weeks, ran her more than $2,000. Given that she works as a resource coordinator at Sterling Community Center, barely a mile from her house, she doesn’t make the kind of money it would take to live at $4,000 per month.
Sylvia Vandross’ situation is indicative of the problem storm evacuees are increasingly running into – beyond the displacement, the financial cost of fleeing storms and storm damage is mounting.
According to an October report by researchers at the University of Alaska, hurricanes nationally have cost more than $340 billion since 2018; and the cost of evacuations range between $11 million and $120 million per storm.
One reason Vandross’ expenses capped around $2,000 is that she got help to find free living arrangements after two weeks at a hotel.
First was a free stay at an Airbnb house for two weeks. Airbnb.org, the company’s nonprofit arm, made arrangements with the United Way of Greenville County to provide temporary housing for Helene evacuees in the states where the storm did the most damage.
“The initial Airbnb stay was for 10 to 14 days,” said Cody Carver, director of community initiatives and investments at United Way of Greenville County. “If they were still unable to return to their home after that Airbnb expired, they were able to apply for an extension. Most of the families were granted that.”
Carver said the arrangement provided “temporary housing for 175 families, which equated to around 2,450 nights” in Greenville County alone.
Even though Vandross’ house was originally damaged by the pre-Helene microburst, Helene further damaged her almost-100-year-old house and its original hardwood floors (more on that in a moment). So she and her son qualified for a 14-day stay in an Airbnb house – something she said was a major step up.
“It felt more like having a home,” she said. “And it gave my son his own space. Even though we had a suite for the hotel, he still was on the couch. This gave us each our own room, the ability to cook our meals rather than having to go out every day … and just a more sound and secure place to sleep.”
Because she and her son have not yet been able to return home, Vandross likely could have received an extension from Airbnb – which according to Christoph Gorder, executive director of Airbnb.org, supported 468 households and 2,047 people (and 137 pets) affected by Helene in South Carolina.
But Vandross didn’t need an extension because an acquaintance of hers offered her a studio garage apartment for free. She’s been staying there since leaving the Airbnb. Her son is staying with other family because, Vandross said, there is not enough room for the two of them in a studio apartment.
If she didn’t have such a connection to a rent-free space, Vandross would have to rent a place that she said her insurance company would reimburse her up to $1,200 per month for. But she is still paying a mortgage.
“I don't have $1,200 plus my mortgage to put in to even be reimbursed for,” she said.
And then there’s the difficulty in even finding a two-bedroom apartment in Greenville for $1,200. According to Zillow, median rent for all bedrooms and property types in the city, as of Nov. 15, is $1,745; while Apartments.com reports than an average two-bedroom in Greenville is $1,496 per month.
Vandross said she has managed to find lucky breaks since Sept. 24 and is grateful for the help of neighbors and organizations that have allowed her to keep working and living as close to a normal life as possible. She’s actually closer to her job now – the apartment is just around the corner from Sterling Community Center – and she’s able to walk to work.
But even though the tree is no longer sitting on her house, a blue tarp is. Vandross is waiting for final word from insurance adjusters and construction/restoration workers to let her know what they can do and when they can do it.
A snag for Vandross is that those old hardwood floors in her house are irreplaceable.
The state Department of Banking and Insurance said in an email statement that restorations depend on homeowner coverage, but that the insurance company would adjust the loss based on materials of "like kind and quality for like use."
And while that wouldn’t necessarily leave Vandross on the hook for repairs, her deductible could still be pricey, and the time it takes to find “like kind” materials could drag on.
While she’s away, she said she is hanging onto her faith to get her through.
“I am a strong believer that God is in everything that happens,” she said. “We may not always understand, [but] it all works out. We go through things. But if we hold on to our faith, we'll see the blessing at the other end.”
