House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, talks to reporters on the Statehouse grounds on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — The state Legislature will not come back to Columbia early to deal with the effects of Hurricane Helene, legislative leaders said Tuesday.
Without more concrete estimates as to the cost of the damages, and with federal aid coming in for more than half the state’s counties, legislators will wait until the new session starts in January to set aside money or take any other actions related to the storm, Senate President Thomas Alexander and House Speaker Murrell Smith told reporters.
“Our work will start in January of addressing what is necessary for us from a financial standpoint, as we have more time to evaluate the damage,” said Alexander, R-Walhalla.
The extent of the damage remains unclear after the storm swept along the Georgia border and Upstate, downing trees and power lines. The storm and its effects in the days that followed killed at least 48 people in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
At least 5,200 houses had some sort of storm damage, 300 of which were destroyed, officials said Monday.
As of Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had approved more than $65.5 million in aid. Uninsured and underinsured people in 23 counties can apply for federal assistance, and 29 counties are eligible for local government assistance, officials said.
“We don’t know what the cost is. We don’t know what the timeline is,” said Smith, R-Sumter. “When all that comes to fruition, you’ll see both our (budget) chairmen work on those issues and they’ll give it top priority.”
Over half of SC counties now eligible for FEMA aid, more could be added
Federal funds for public assistance, which reimburses governments for expenses such as repairing roads and bridges and cleaning up debris, often don’t cover the entire cost of damages. Typically, FEMA pays for 75% of the cost, while state or local governments pay the rest.
However, for response to Helene, President Joe Biden authorized FEMA to reimburse 100% of state and local governments’ costs. That full coverage will apply to 90 days’ worth of spending. The state gets to choose which 90 days, within a 120-day window after the storm, the agency announced Saturday.
What work will remain beyond those 90 days is unclear.
After previous major storms, such as Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the state covered the cost of the required match for state agencies and local governments, Alexander said.
“I think we would be open to doing that again this time,” Alexander said. “It’s premature to talk about those numbers at this time.”
Even for fully reimbursed expenses, there will be bills and expenses that need to be paid upfront.
Between the state’s Disaster Relief and Resilience Reserve Fund, which is meant to help mitigate natural disasters and kickstart relief, and a rainy-day reserve fund meant for unexpected costs, the state has around $330 million to pull from if needed, Smith said.
It’s too early to say exactly what that money would go toward, but it could include agencies involved with the state’s storm response, such as transportation workers clearing roads, and local governments cleaning up debris, he said.
“Right now, we hopefully continue to just try to get everybody’s power restored, make sure everybody’s safe, we’re getting our roads cleaned up from the disaster, and that’s going to be our focus right now,” Smith said.