Is aid on the way for Bamberg County flooding victims?
BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - We received updates from federal and Bamberg County emergency management officials Tuesday morning after residents remain under an evacuation alert as floodwaters linger a week after Tropical Storm Debby began.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency told us the presidential order for aid only covers shelter and evacuation expenses.
The process of getting disaster relief for victims begins with local emergency management officials assessing damage, sending a report to the state, and the state deciding whether to provide aid, FEMA says.
FEMA says there are nonprofits on the ground that can help, but one homeowner said she hasn’t seen anyone.
“It’s an emotional thing of I’ve put 17 years of my life into this house and into this community, and I love it, and I don’t want to leave it. But if I don’t get some help, I’m going to have to, I’m going to have to just take what I can get and go,” said Donna Rogers.
They’re looking for help, but not knowing where to turn.
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“We’re forgotten. I feel like we’re forgotten in the rural communities of South Carolina. I just feel like we’re forgotten,” said Rogers.
Rogers and many others live in a community about 20 minutes away from Bamberg, making it even harder to get help.
After the storm, part of her roof fell into her home.
Now with a hole in her ceiling and water filling up buckets on her floor, she’s franticly looking for help.
“It was just nonstop Eight days of solid rain,” she said.
A Bamberg County spokesperson told us Tuesday morning that officials are in the process of assessing damage.
They say they’re doing everything they can with at least 16 roads still blocked off.
“Actually had a few rescues since the initial onset of the tropical storm. We’ve had about four rescues. We’ve rescued a few animals, of course, people and their pets,” said Alisha Moore, Bamberg County PIO.
CURRENT ROAD CLOSURES:
- Embree, Hope, Squirrl, Needle, Kite Road, Tobacco, Whaley, Shots Trail, Sand Dog, Stump Knocker, Sioux, Shad, Garr, Pike, Turkey Cut and Papa Henry Circle
Emergency management officials were set to speak to the Bamberg County Council on Monday night about it. The spokesperson said to look for details in the next few days.
They had local teams on the ground assessing damage, waiting for FEMA to arrive.
On Tuesday, they released a form for people to fill out to get help and also urge people to call their non-emergency number for assistance.
“We’re just hoping that the tropical storm that’s coming behind Debbie won’t be as impactful here for us, so our residents can have some relief,” said Moore.
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Bamberg County residents in the Edisto River basin remain under an alert highly advising them to evacuate as floodwaters, a week after the rain started falling from Tropical Storm Debby.
The storm poured more rain on the region than many people can in such a short time.
While much of the Georgia portion of the CSRA has started to dry out, the same can’t be said in South Carolina.
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With surface water taking its time to drain into creeks that feed water, rivers have continued to rise long after the rain left.
In Bamberg County, officials said Monday that road closures from last week remained in effect.
Although the water rose high enough for people to need boats to get to their property, no one had to be rescued over the weekend, officials said.
Issued Friday, the evacuation alert is not mandatory but strongly encouraged.
BAMBERG COUNTY FLOODING:
Meanwhile, the IRS is offering some relief to hurricane victims, giving them until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.
This applies to all 46 counties in South Carolina, as well as many in Georgia, including Burke, Emanuel Jefferson, Jenkins, Richmond and Screven counties
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The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred beginning Aug. 4 in Georgia and South Carolina. Affected individuals and businesses will have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
People in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred or the return for the prior year, the IRS says.
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