For the past few weeks, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division has had over 300 people in its office working around the clock due to Hurricane Florence.

On Tuesday, the operations center was nearly empty.

SCEMD is currently scaling back its emergency operations, even downgrading its status from Op-con One to Op-con Three, which indicates that the situation is no longer as dire as it once was.

However, Derrec Becker, SCEMD’s public information director, said that the disaster is far from over.

With nearly a hundred roads and a few major highways in South Carolina still closed, and multiple emergency shelters in operation, South Carolina isn’t free of Hurricane Florence’s wrath just yet.

“We still have areas that are still underwater. This disaster is still occurring. Fortunately though, most everybody is out of these areas, or they’re in a place that they’re high and dry,” Becker said.

Areas like Horry County are still experiencing severe flooding, and parts of the Lowcountry are still without power. FEMA is here in the Midlands to assist SCEMD, and both agencies plan to open a joint office in the coming days in Northeast Columbia to deal with flood recovery.

Residents in these counties are eligible to apply for FEMA assistance:

  • Horry
  • Dillon
  • Marion
  • Marlboro
  • Chesterfield
  • Georgetown

To apply for FEMA assistance, residents with uninsured losses can call 800-621-3362, visit DisasterAssistance.gov, or download FEMA’s mobile app by visiting fema.gov/mobile-app.

South Carolina Emergency Management Division is scaling back its emergency operations, and is now focused on helping areas of our state recover from Hurricane Florence.

SCEMD is joining forces with FEMA officials to open up a joint office soon in Northeast Columbia to assist those still in need due to the ongoing flooding.