Help slowing coming into flood victims

Teresa Lawrence sorts through items that were damaged in Thursday's flood at her mother's home on South Chastain Drive, where she said 'it appears to be a 100% loss'. Staff/Patrick Collard e-mail this story

They are facing high rebuilding costs with little or no help available if they don't have flood insurance.

Gov. Mark Sanford said he will issue an executive order that will bring in the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county becomes a candidate for federal aid if FEMA finds more than $4.5 million in damage. The county estimate is $5.8 million.

But how much money Greenville will get and where it will be spent is not known, said Julie Thomas, spokeswoman for the state emergency management office. FEMA primarily helps with rebuilding infrastructure, but the county could help people apply for small business loans which could be used to repair homes.

David Armentrout, whose Dukeland Trailer Park home near Sans Souci was destroyed in the flooding, said the lack of help is frustrating. A friend has helped them put a mobile home on higher ground, but their cars were destroyed in the flooding.

Their insurance won't cover that.

"Most people are just throwing up their shoulders," he said. "Other than friends, there is nothing."

Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army and The American Red Cross are helping pay for groceries, towels and sheets, and providing mops and brooms. The agencies are also delivering beverages to people cleaning up and helping with rent for some who have been displaced.

The South Carolina Baptist Convention will have at least eight "mud out" volunteers helping clean homes by today or Wednesday, said Bill Hightower, interim pastor at Lee Road Baptist Church

Greenville County Councilman Mark Kingsbury said he is organizing a disaster relief fund to distribute contributions. He said fund-raising letters are going out to faith-based organizations, churches and synagogues.

Casey and Cathy Stephens of Berea said they appreciate the money and groceries they received from the Red Cross.

"They are really trying to help," said Cathy Stephens, who is seven months pregnant. "I really can't complain."

But that isn't meeting all of their needs.

The couple returned from a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach to find their brick ranch-style home had been declared uninhabitable because flood waters had washed away a major part of the foundation.

Mold invaded the house. The green carpet in their den was ruined. The flood knocked out their furnace and air-conditioning unit.

And they don't know how much of the $40,000 in damages their homeowners insurance will cover.

Dozens of people could tell similar stories in the aftermath of the sudden flood that damaged more than 100 homes in the Parker, Berea, San Souci and City View communities of western Greenville.

Kingsbury said he will propose an ordinance to the Greenville County Council that would set up individual $7,500 grants for those wanting to raise their homes above flood stage.

The construction involved in raising homes is costly, but the grants would get people started, he said. The money would come out of $250,000 in stormwater fees that the council approved last year.

Kingsbury voted against those fees but said this would be a good way to use them.

While figuring out how to rebuild their home, Casey and Cathy Stephens are staying with her parents.

The green carpet from their den and a parquet floor that was under it laid in scraps on their front lawn on Strawberry Drive. They never thought about flood insurance when they bought the house four years ago because there were no nearby creeks or streams.

"If there were a lake in my backyard, I would have understood why my house flooded," Casey Stephens said.

Once they rebuild, his wife said, they will probably move. They don't want to take the chance of flooding again.

"This has been hectic," she said.

Staff Writers Anna Brutzman and Andy Paras contributed to the article.