WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Rice (R-S.C.) applauds the state of South Carolina for distributing the first tranche of $162 million in federal disaster relief funds secured from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant program. The funds are distributed under Director Ben Duncan’s leadership as the first Director of the Office of Resilience. 

“Too many folks in the 7^th district continue to feel the effects of Hurricane Florence, Matthew and Dorian, while also preparing for future storms. We worked tirelessly to ensure the release of these funds from the federal government and they will be instrumental in helping our community rebuild and implement proactive mitigation projects,” said Congressman Rice. “I commend Governor McMaster for naming Ben Duncan as Director of the Office of Resilience. Having spent over 30 years in public service to the state of South Carolina and more than five with the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office, Ben has proven himself to be a very worthy candidate for this appointment. I know he will serve the citizens of South Carolina extremely well and I can’t think of anyone who would do a better job. I look forward to the continued progress South Carolina will make under Ben Duncan’s leadership in getting relief to those in need.”

The first tranche of funds was approved by the state on March 9, 2021 for the following local governments in the 7^thDistrict for stormwater infrastructure and drainage improvements:

• Georgetown County: $939,529
• Florence County: $6,896,471
• Horry County: $2,476,250

The first tranche of funds also included an additional $13,120,685 for buyouts of repetitive loss properties in Horry County, which will allow for buyouts up to $250,000 per property for 61 homes in the Rosewood subdivision. 

The South Carolina Office of Resilience’s (SCOR) Disaster Recovery Office (DRO) expects to open a second tranche of funding in late summer of 2021 and a third tranche of funding in summer of 2022. 

Background: 

On March 9, 2021, Governor McMaster named Ben Duncan as South Carolina’s first Chief Resilience Officer. As director, Duncan oversees the grant programs that focus on rebuilding or repairing homes damaged by severe weather events and manages federal funds available to assist in disaster recovery. Read the release here.

On August 23, 2019, Congressman Rice announced that HUD approved the release of mitigation funding for Hurricane Matthew and the 2015 Floods for South Carolina. Read the release here.

 

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