FEMA pulls out of Orangeburg County site after confrontation

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BOWMAN, S.C. (WIS) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency temporarily suspended outreach activities in Orangeburg County following a “safety incident,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division and FEMA.

FEMA stopped the activities at approximately 11 a.m. Monday at the Bowman Library.

It comes after a similar incident in North Carolina, where FEMA contractors were getting threatening messages and a man was arrested.

In the Bowman incident, there was one disruptive community member, according to FEMA. Out of an abundance of caution, workers closed down the site.

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The man, who owns an insurance business on Charleston Highway near the library, called WIS News 10 and said he was the person being disruptive.

He was upset the FEMA trucks were blocking the parking lot to his business. He showed WIS News 10 video of him going inside the library and telling FEMA workers to leave.

He claimed that Orangeburg County did not need FEMA assistance, and believed that FEMA was not going to harder-hit parts of the U.S. impacted by Hurricane Helene.

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“Get gone, get out of here. See y’all. I think they are packing up and leaving because they know they aren’t welcome here,” he said in the video after an exchange between him and an employee.

He said he disagrees with the characterization that he was threatening the worker’s safety.

Police were called to the site; however, the disruptive person was not armed and not arrested.

It is unclear if this site will re-open at this location in the future.

Bowman Library is located at 7105 Charleston Highway in Bowman.