FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – Florence County Emergency Management is working with agencies across the county to help flood victims get more than just help from FEMA.
Florence County officials say nearly 500 homes were damaged in the Johnsonville area.
Mary Mckenzie has been living in her home in Johnsonville for more than 10 years. She now lives in Lake City with her son because her home is uninhabitable.
“I pray and cry. That’s all I can do,” mentioned McKenzie.
McKenzie spends any free time she has throughout the day coming back to her home to clean.
“My son don’t want me doing it because they’ll be here on the weekend to help too so I just quit. Now I’m sitting on the door step when I’m here,” said McKenzie.
And as she sits on her front doorsteps she is reminded that the money she got from FEMA won’t be enough to rebuild her home.
“If it takes me a year I’ll just do one room at a time until I get it fixed,” McKenzie said.
This is why Florence County is working to start a long term recovery committee for residents who didn’t get as much money from other agencies.
“If it’s not quite enough or their insurance doesn’t pay quite enough to help get them back where they were before the flooding happened. We will try to possibly get them in a place even better,” said Florence County Emergency Management Senior Coordinator Kristy Hughes.
McKenzie says it’s a possibility that is worth the wait.
“I’m just taking one day at a time and going to see what happens,” said McKenzie.
“The end goal is to have those residents back in their homes. Have the homes repaired and to have them back to normal and get them back to pre-disaster state,” said Hughes.
Agencies interested in attending the meeting can contact the Florence County Emergency Management office at 843-665-7255 or email Kristy Hughes khughes@fcemd.org
