I had that gut-wrenching feeling you get when someone drops shockingly bad news on you. I have spent 40 years hunting, hiking and botanizing on Naked Knob and Horse Mountain. I have enough stories to tell about that area to fill a chapter in a book. These are my woods, and now they will never be the same — at least not in my lifetime.

A few weeks later, I was talking with Ken Forester, the site manager for Jocassee Gorges, and I asked him if he had seen the hurricane damage on Naked Knob and Horse Mountain. He pulled out his cell phone and showed me before-and-after satellite photos of that exact area.

He then scrolled to a satellite view of Long Ridge, the prominent ridge on Pinnacle Mountain that most people know as “the petroglyph site,” because of the ancient Indian rock carvings that archaeologist Tommy Charles and I discovered there many years ago. The aerial photos showed the same thing, big timber laid down in one direction. He then showed photos of a place near Bootleg Mountain on Lake Jocassee, and a couple more. They all depicted the same story — widespread devastation from straight-line winds in the range of 60 mph or more.

One of the real-world impacts of this is that all that heavy fuel will be on the ground for a decade or more. Having served for years on the mountain firefighting team, I can tell you that if we have a wildfire in that area, it’s going to be a hot fire and it will burn for weeks, if not longer. There is simply no way a crew could put in a handline among that jumbled up mess in order to cut off the fire, and it would be slow going to get a bulldozer in there.

More Hurricane Helene news

The loss of all those mature oak trees will also mean significantly fewer acorns for bears, deer and squirrels. White oak trees, for example, don’t start producing acorns until they are 20 years old, so the deficit is going to be with us for quite a while.

Table Rock Mountain was also heavily impacted, along with the Table Rock watershed and Caesars Head areas, which also suffered from the relentless gale force straight-line winds of Hurricane Helene.

Most hikers have already discovered that their favorite hiking trails are either still closed or have recently been opened back up. With hundreds of miles of hiking trails in rugged, heavily impacted terrain, the work is slow and exhausting. Some trails will need to be rebuilt because of landslides. A pat on the back to all those volunteers who are out there working every day to get our extensive network of hiking trails restored.

Dennis Chastain is a Pickens County naturalist, historian and former tour guide. He has been writing feature articles for South Carolina Wildlife magazine and other outdoor publications since 1989.

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The open-air chapel has been closed since late September 2024 after the storm ripped off part of the structure’s roof. The chapel’s wooden benches also sustained significant water damage. 

Sam Franklin, CEO and president of YMCA of Greenville, said approximately $455,000 in repairs were completed to the chapel including replacing the roof, installing new wood/metal benches, adding water drainage protectors and more. Hogan Construction Group was hired to complete the work.

“We wanted to make sure that the original rustic feel of the chapel was maintained,” Franklin said. “It’s a landmark for not just this area but for our state and so we’re just happy and excited to have it back open.”

Around 250 people traveled to the reopened chapel to watch the sunrise on the morning of Jan. 3. The famous structure, officially named Fred W. Symmes Chapel, sits at 3,200 feet atop Standing Stone Mountain in northern Greenville County. Tinisha Johnson, an Anderson County resident who visited the chapel on Jan. 3, said it was devastating to see such a beautiful place damaged by the storm. 

“I’m so glad that they were able to repair it and they were able to restore its natural beauty,” Johnson said. 

In addition to Pretty Place Chapel, tree removal and other storm repairs are underway throughout YMCA Camp Greenville. Franklin estimates Helene caused over a thousand trees to fall across the campus, damaging several cabins and areas around the 1,400-acre property.

Read more about YMCA Camp Greenville damages from Hurricane Helene 

“We’re probably about 75% to 80% done with the tree removal which is great,” Franklin said. “Most of the program areas have been cleared. The camper cabins have been repaired. 

Franklin said YMCA Camp Greenville will be ready by June for its summer programming. The YMCA of Greenville is accepting monetary donations to help cover the cost of the camp’s storm repairs. For more information, visit campgreenville.org. 

 

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Cost estimates

$455,000: Pretty Place Chapel repairs (roof replacement, new benches, etc.)

Approximately $700,000: Tree removal and cabin repairs across YMCA Camp Greenville

Pretty Place fast facts

Pretty Place Chapel, officially named Fred W. Symmes Chapel, was built in 1941.

The chapel welcomes more than 325,000 people each year.

Around 550 wedding ceremonies are held at the chapel each year.

162 weddings had to be canceled after the chapel was damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Visitation schedule

Pretty Place Chapel officially reopened on Jan. 3. To view the chapel’s visitation schedule, visit campgreenville.org/visitation-schedule.

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In the early hours of Friday, Sept. 27, Hurricane Helene swept through the Upstate. The eye passed closer than expected, exposing Greenville and the surrounding area to winds as high as 90 mph.

The post 2024 rewind: Hurricane Helene appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.

The nonprofit Travelers Rest Farmers Market is currently working with eight Upstate farmers impacted by the storm through its Travelers Rest Farmers Market Farmer Fund.

The fund was already active before the storm and began raising capital in October 2023 for two grants: the Crisis Grant and Capacity Building Grant. Since the storm, the fund restructured to focus its fundraising on one grant – the Rebuilding Capacity Grant.

“We interviewed all of our farmers after Hurricane Helene,” said Jessica Mullen, the market’s director of marketing and development. “We interviewed something like 16 of them, and eight of them said they’d be willing to take funds.”

Tropical storms can cause both short- and long-term damage. While direct damage may look like fallen trees, crop destruction or broken tools, lasting damage can include physically unharmed crops that are still considered unsafe due to flooding.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, crops even partially submerged in floodwater can pose a public health risk due to exposure to heavy metals or raw sewage. The resulting exposure requires testing or disposal of crops. Either way, the damage can set back the farmer.

The resulting strain may prove to be complex depending on the size of the farm and the experience of the farmer.

The nonprofit’s cohort of 41 farms range from roughly one-quarter acre to as much as 400 acres. Some have generations of farming knowledge while others are considered “beginner farmers” with 10 years of experience or less. Mullen said some of the less-experienced farmers are learning as they go.

The fund focuses on aiding farmers in the face of crisis but also by giving the newer farmers support as they learn.

“When we’re talking about starting a new ecosystem of community and food, that means that these farmers have to have safety to try new things or fail,” Mullen said. “When you’re learning a new thing and you can’t make any mistakes, it’s almost impossible to succeed. And so the Farmer Fund exists to help them try new things and also to help them in case of disaster.”

Impact on a local farm

Estrada Farms, near Pumpkintown in Pickens County, was one of the farms willing to accept aid. The farm is situated close to a nearby creek that flooded, with a total of 17 acres affected including roughly two acres of tomatoes, two acres of cucumbers and about 10 acres of peppers under floodwater. Of those 17, only about two were salvageable, meaning floodwater didn’t touch them.

To make matters worse, the farm lost 10 diesel water pumps. Ironically, some of the pumps had been moved farther out in anticipation of the storm, but not far enough.

With many of its fall crops being harvested in late September and October, the storm’s timing was catastrophic.

“It wasn’t so much the wind, it was more of the flooding because all of our fields are located near rivers and streams, and it was a lot of rain,” said Ignacio Estrada. “It got wiped out. I couldn’t even harvest it if I wanted to.”

The farm took a hit of more than $60,000, including crops and the cost of rebuilding the water pumps.

Estrada is a third-generation farmer, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, but he said the trade probably dates back further to the family’s roots in Mexico. He got involved with the Travelers Rest Farmers Market in an effort to sell his products locally and in a retail capacity. He believes in the greater quality of buying local produce and encourages the public to buy local crops year-round.

According to Mullen, humility has been a theme with all the farmers. Despite financial and property damages, they have immense sympathy for those who lost more than business during the hurricane.

“Some people lost greenhouses, some people lost their whole crops, like me, but from what I heard, I don’t think anybody actually got hurt or anyone lost their lives,” Estrada said.

How you can help

To donate to the farmer’s market fund, visit travelersrestfarmersmarket.com/donate-to-trfm. To date, losses suffered by farmers within the cohort totals roughly $205,710. The donation portal will stay open until the end of 2024 with 100% of donations going toward the farmers after processing fees.

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The South Hudson Street bridge near Unity Park and the West Washington Street bridge were damaged during Hurricane Helene. Flooding caused the foundations of both structures to erode and the bridges have been closed since late September. 

Greenville City Council approved a resolution during its Nov. 26 meeting to allow the South Carolina Department of Transportation to perform emergency bridge replacements to both structures. The bridges were added to the state’s accelerated replacement schedule. 

Read more about the bridge projects

According to the resolution, SCDOT plans to complete the project by the end of 2025. The work must be completed within the next year to be eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster reimbursement funding.

The existing bridges will be removed and replaced. The new South Hudson Street bridge will have connection improvements to the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail. The West Washington Street bridge will be replaced with a wider structure to allow for future bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

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“We couldn’t ignore the impact Hurricane Helene had on the Carolinas, and SAFi wanted to lend a hand to our local food pantry as they continue to serve the community during this difficult time,” said Caryn Vedane, event chair with SAFi. “We’re very proud to be able to help in some small way.”

The funds were raised at SAFi’s annual Oktoberfest in October.

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The low-income housing tax credit program provides tax credits to developers who create affordable housing. Bryan Brown, CEO of the Greenville Housing Fund, said the program partially finances 90% of all new affordable housing construction in the U.S.

Southernside Senior Living, a $32 million affordable housing development near Unity Park, was awarded a 9% federal low-income housing tax credit. The Greenville Housing Fund is partnering with Harmony Housing Affordable Development to develop the project. 

Construction is set to begin in 2025. The development will consist of 147 rental units for seniors earning 20% to 60% of the area median income. Phase one will include 93 units. Fifty-five project-based vouchers will be available for households earning below 30% AMI. 

The Alliance, a $38 million mixed-use development in Greenville, received both a federal and state low-income housing tax credit. The project is being developed by NHE, a Greenville-based property management company.

Located at the corner of Laurens and Ackley roads, the project will consist of two, four-story buildings with 100 affordable units, serving households earning below 60% of the AMI. Taylor Davis, president of NHE, said construction is hoped to begin in the second quarter of 2025 and take around 20 months to complete. 

The final project in Greenville to receive a 9% federal low-income housing tax credit was the Greenville Summit, an existing affordable housing building for seniors in downtown Greenville. The property owner, JE Properties, plans to complete a rehabilitation project for the 100-year-old building.

The project will include renovating the residential units, replacing old pipes, upgrading the building’s facade, installing a new elevator and more. Joseph Eddy, president of JE Properties, said renovations should be underway by May. 

JE Properties also plans to build an eight-story addition next to the Greenville Summit to add more affordable senior housing apartments. The property owner applied for an additional LIHTC, however, it was not awarded to the project. 

Read more about local affordable housing projects

Initial approval: Funding for Southernside and Viola Multi-Service Centers

The city of Greenville plans to rebuild the Southernside Multi-Service Center and the Viola Multi-Service Center. Both buildings will be demolished to construct two new facilities to use for community gatherings, afterschool programs and more.

The cost to construct and furnish the multi-service centers is estimated to be $2.4 million. Approximately $858,057 in funding has previously been allocated to both projects. 

Council gave initial approval during its Nov. 11 meeting to appropriate $1.57 million from the capital projects fund to cover the remaining cost of reconstructing both multi-service centers. This funding was collected from the former Viola Tax Increment Financing fund which ended in 2022. 

JonScot General Contractors was awarded the contract to rebuild the Southernside Multi-Service Center in October. According to the city, construction of the new center is expected to start in early 2025. The Viola Multi-Service Center will soon go out to bid for a contractor to complete the project. 

Update: Debris pickup in Greenville

Greenville City Manager Shannon Lavrin announced that more than 327,445 cubic yards of vegetative waste – over 6,000 loads – have been picked up within the city due to Hurricane Helene. Over 88,185 cubic yards have been ground and shipped to a mulch processor. 

The second pass of debris pickup is currently ongoing throughout the city. This is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving. The collections of larger stumps will also begin this week. 

The city’s debris pickup contractor, Crowder Gulf, will begin the final pass on Monday, Dec. 9. All debris in need of pickup must be on the curb by that day.

Read more about the city’s debris pickup

Additional items

• Council postponed the vote on the annexation and zoning of approximately 1.85 acres of property on Guess, Orr and Seth streets. The site is proposed to be zoned RN-C, Neighborhood C District, to allow for the development of 11 to 13 townhomes. 
• Council gave initial approval of an amendment to the city’s business license ordinance that would allow the city manager to appoint a hearing officer. This individual would be responsible for hearing appeals of business license denials and suspensions.
• Council approved the final reading on an ordinance to temporarily suspend the requirement for a certificate of appropriateness to help expedite the process for property owners to receive a permit for building repairs after Hurricane Helene.

The post Three Greenville affordable housing projects receive tax credits: City Council notes appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.

This was recently evident when Hurricane Helene hit the Upstate in late September, causing flooding and damage across the region. Other hazards that can be a threat to the city include winter weather, wildfires and tornadoes.

The city of Greenville Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan assesses the risk of such events and outlines strategies to help minimize a natural disaster’s impact on the community. Paul Dow, city engineer, said the city’s plan also helps with disaster funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires the city to have a multi-hazard mitigation plan to be eligible for assistance grants.

Updates have recently been made to the city’s mitigation plan, a process that took almost a year to complete. The plan was created in 2009 and is included in the Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The last major overhaul of the city’s plan was completed in 2015.

Dow said it is important for the city to regularly revise the plan to make sure it is up to date, especially as hazards, technologies and resources change. The updated multi-hazard mitigation plan was presented during the city’s project preview meeting on Oct. 22.

A disaster-mitigation committee comprising public and private agencies was formed to revise the plan. The 24-person committee included representatives from the city, Greenville County, Greenville County Schools, Prisma Health and the United Way of Greenville County. The city also hired the consulting firm Woolpert to help with the project.

To update the plan, the committee created new mitigation measures after reviewing data and performing a hazard and risk assessment. Thirty-four mitigation initiatives are proposed for the city’s updated plan. These activities are divided into six categories:

• Prevention
• Public education and awareness
• Natural resources protection
• Emergency services
• Property protection
• Structural projects

Some mitigation measures were also added to the plan following Helene. Dow said the committee was able to use the lessons learned from the storm to help strengthen the plan. For example, one lesson from the storm was the need for efficient coordination between Duke Energy and the city when cleaning up fallen trees and power lines.

Related: Hurricane Helene’s impact

Related: Greenville’s Helene debris cleanup will continue until end of November

“Think about when trees hit power lines,” Dow said. “Sometimes when Duke Power gets there, they need help with the tree. When the city gets there, they need help with the power lines. Now we know immediately to get the two together as opposed to working separately because there was about a day lag in some of these places.”

Following public review, the city’s revised plan will be submitted to emergency agencies such as FEMA for approval. The plan will then need to be adopted by the Greenville City Council. Dow said he expects the plan to be reviewed by council by the end of the year.

—

City of Greenville Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan goals

1. Develop and utilize hazard information
2. Initiate and sustain emergency response operations
3. Continue government operations during a hazard
4. Support effective hazard-mitigation programming
5. Minimize the vulnerability of buildings
6. Protect the city’s economic vitality during a hazard
7. Maintain the functionality of city infrastructure during a hazard
8. Train employees and inform the public

Source: City of Greenville

Hazards of concern

• Winter weather
• Floods
• Wildfire
• Tornadoes/high winds
• Drought
• Hail
• Earthquake
• Landslides
• Sinkholes

Source: City of Greenville

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More than 260,000 cubic yards of storm debris from the Sept. 27 storm have been picked up within the city so far.

Dave Derrick, the city’s director of public works, said staff began working to clear roads of debris the day of the storm. To help with debris cleanup, the city hired an outside contractor, Crowder Gulf for Debris, which mobilized within 72 hours after the storm.

The contractor’s 18 debris trucks were divided among 20 routes throughout the city. Derrick said the trucks were assigned to different zones depending on the severity of the damage. 

After a month of cleanup, Derrick said a first pass of debris pickup has been completed on every city street. A second and potentially third pass will also be completed, with larger logs and stumps picked up near the end of the process. 

“We’re not going to miss anybody,” Derrick said. “We will let everyone know when we’re going to be making our final passes to ensure that everybody gets their material out to the road and to be collected.”

Related: Hurricane Helene special section

The debris hauling company provides a daily report to the city detailing where it has been and how much debris it collected. A subcontractor named Tetra Tech was also hired to record every pile of debris picked up for reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The city originally estimated that 300,000 cubic yards of debris would be picked up by the end of the cleanup effort. However, Derrick anticipates the total number will be higher. 

The collected debris has been hauled to a collection site at the Greenville Downtown Airport. At the site, the debris is broken down and transported to a mulch processor located in Pelzer. Derrick estimated they will finish transporting the material by mid-December. 

“We’ve hauled out over 63,000 cubic yards of material to the mulch processor as of today,” Derrick said. “Once it’s ground … three cubic yards or four cubic yards is reduced down to once cubic yard.”

For more information on the city’s debris pickup, visit greenvillesc.gov/2412/Disaster-Recovery-Resources. 

Recovery report

Greenville City Manager Shannon Lavrin provided a report of the city’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene during the city council meeting on Oct. 28.  For more information, visit greenvillesc.gov//CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3810. 

(View the cleanup presentation)

By the numbers

Over 300,000 cubic yards of debris is estimated to be picked up in the city. This is equal to 15 football fields stacked with 10 feet high with debris. 

Debris dropoff

Residents in Greenville County can drop off their debris at three temporary sites:

• Greenville site: 409 Blackberry Valley Road
• Greer site: 1311 Anderson Ridge Road
• Simpsonville site: 517 Hipps Road

Where should debris be placed for pickup?

Debris should be placed on the right-of-way in front of the resident’s home. The city advises not to put debris in the roadway, as it can obstruct traffic. 

The post Greenville’s Helene debris cleanup will continue until end of November appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.

Country singer-songwriter Conor Clemmons, who was able to rearrange his schedule to perform at Fall for Greenville on the new dates, was actually caught in the middle of Hurricane Helene and saw its destructive capability firsthand.

“There’s actually a national story that’s running on Fox News that features me,” Clemmons said. “We got caught on I-40 and had to sleep overnight on the interstate because we had flooding all around us and we couldn’t get anywhere.”

The experience taught Clemmons an important lesson that he promises to carry with him to his Greenville performance.

“What I do for a living is fun. And it’s also a moment for people to let loose and relax,” he said. “So being able to come back to Greenville means you’re bringing joy and happiness and a moment of ease to a community of people who genuinely need it, not just people looking to have a good time.”

It’s interesting that Clemmons talks about learning a lesson from his Helene experience, because his new single, “Growin’ to Do,” is a honky-tonk raveup all about learning lessons as you grow older, punctuated by the chorus, where Clemmons sings “This great big world will be right here waiting on you/ While you’ve still got growing to do.”

Clemmons said he looked to his grandfather for inspiration while writing “Growin’ to Do.”

“My grandfather just turned 95 years old this past July,” Clemmons said, “and I just reminisced about stories that he would tell me. My grandfather is still doing new things and growing and experiencing and it never ends. And so I wanted to make it an anthem for all of us to remember to take a second and live in the moment and know that there are still more days to come.”

“Growin’ to Do” features prominently in Clemmons Fall for Greenville setlist, but beyond that, he’s remaining tight-lipped about the show.

“This show is like nothing I’ve done before,” he said. “It’s so energetic from start to finish, and everything has been intentionally placed. There’s some really special moments that I cannot wait to reveal. I’m very excited about it, and I can’t wait for Fall for Greenville and to put this show into the world.”

Visit fallforgreenville.net for Conor Clemmons’s showtime and stage location.

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“This year’s Gran Fondo Hincapie was a last-minute shift in focus, but it quickly became a full-scale fundraising effort,” said Rich Hincapie, president of Hincapie Events. “Once we decided to pivot, George, myself, and the whole family started reaching out to our networks.”

Photos: 2024 The Cliffs Celebrity Chef Dinner

The fundraising efforts involved both cyclists and non-cyclists participating in several events:

• Fundraising dinners on Oct. 17-18 which attracted roughly 500 people combined.
• Donations made by race attendees on Oct. 19.
• Local artist Jared Emerson created a speed painting of Mark Cavendish, winner of a record 35 Tour de France stages, during an after party on Oct. 19. Cavendish signed the painting and it raised $92,500.
• A downtown Greenville fund raising gala which raised more than $240,000.
• An auction of George Hincapie’s 2006 Tour de France Prologue bicycle, which raised $45,000.

The goal is to raise more than $1 million. Fundraising efforts are still active. For those interested in donating, visit polkcountycommunityfoundation.ddock.gives.

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The event will be held from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Volunteers will be spread throughout seven of the city’s parks to help clean up any damage from the storm. 

Restoration efforts will be completed at:

• Cleveland Park – General debris and creek cleanup
• Gatlin Park – General debris and creek cleanup
• Gower Park – General debris cleanup and mulch replenishment 
• Green Avenue Memorial – Mulch replenishment
• McPherson Park – General debris, creek cleanup and mulch replenishment
• Sliding Rock Creek Trail 1  – General debris cleanup
• Unity Park  – General debris cleanup

Volunteers are needed and asked to wear closed-toe shoes, dress in layers and bring a water bottle. To sign up, visit cityofgreenville.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=85213.

Related: Hurricane Helene updates

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His restaurants, starting in Washington, D.C., served some of the most intriguing food on the planet. Andres has 31 restaurants across the globe. We’ve been fortunate enough to have dined at three of his restaurants and our meal at Minibar probably sits at the top of our list.

But after a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, which sent some of its citizens to the brink of starvation, Andres founded World Central Kitchen with the goal of providing basic sustenance in disaster-stricken areas. No politics, no religion — just food and water.

While volunteering with Operation Barbecue Relief in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after Hurricane Laura, our group ended up sharing the same Walmart parking lot with World Central Kitchen. After our day was done, I wandered over to the WCK area and saw what its staff was preparing and chatted with some of the team. What WCK does differently than every other relief team is prepare a meal that is relevant to the affected region. In Lake Charles, the team was serving shrimp court bouillon over rice, while the team at Operation Barbecue was serving the same thing we made two years later in Hammond, Louisiana, and two years earlier in Port St. Joe, Florida.

Going that extra mile was important to me. Judging by the smiles on the faces of hungry, exhausted Louisianans who were offered a familiar dish prepared by skilled hands, that extra mile spoke volumes to them.

While working with WCK in Przemysl, Poland, at the start of the war in Ukraine, we prepared a dish familiar to Ukrainians. It was a stew made with beef, bulgur wheat, and a blend of spices and herbs that were a bit foreign to me but familiar to Ukrainians. Once again, World Central Kitchen put a smile on the faces of people that were in dire straits.

Last week I spent some time in Asheville, North Carolina, serving food with World Central Kitchen for our shell-shocked neighbors to the north. Many of them wore those similar expressions of disbelief — emotions I’ve seen in the faces of hurricane survivors. It’s a mixture of gratitude, angst and uncertainty over their next steps. Those steps cannot be accomplished without sustenance and a hot meal is necessary for all to determine and act on those next steps.

By the time you read this, we’ll all have a better understanding of what it’s going to take to restore Asheville and the surrounding lovely mountain towns to anything resembling normal. I’d say the damage is breathtaking, but that word doesn’t accurately convey the challenges ahead. In the meantime, many of us will be volunteering our time and skill to keep those weary souls fed and encouraged.

If you’re curious about what World Central Kitchen served in Asheville, it was barbecue pork with lima beans, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. How appropriate.

“City Juice” is a colloquial term for a glass of tap water served at a diner. John Malik is a restaurant coach and hospitality consultant. He can be reached at chefjohnmalik@gmail.com.

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Powell provided repair updates at a press event in northern Greenville County Oct. 18 and was joined by Kristin White, acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and state Sen. Tom Corbin (R-Greenville).

The event was held on Camp Creek Road north of Taylors at a section of road closed due to a culvert washout. The area is part of Corbin’s Senate District Five.

Powell said there were about 12 damaged sections of roads around the state, like the section over Wildcat Creek on Camp Creek Road, that would require extensive repairs that could last anywhere from 12 to 24 months.

Read more about the impact of Hurricane Helene

He added preliminary cost estimates of storm-related damage to the state’s highway system are about $50 million.

White said $2 million in immediate emergency financial assistance from FHA has been allocated to South Carolina with other federal dollars expected to follow.

Powell said he anticipated most of the 41 roads that remain closed would be repaired and reopened by the end of the year.

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Scammers commonly set up fake charities to take advantage of peoples’ generosity during natural disasters and other tragic events, the agency said in a statement Oct. 15.

Those interested in making donations should first check the Tax-Exempt Organization Search  tool on the agency’s website, irs.gov, to help find or verify qualified, legitimate charities. With this tool, people can:

• Verify the legitimacy of a charity.
• Check its eligibility to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.
• Search for information about an organization’s tax-exempt status and filings.

Tips to avoid fake charities

The IRS has a number of recommendations for taxpayers that can help them avoid falling victim to scams.

First, always verify. Scammers frequently use names that sound like well-known charities to confuse people.

Fake charity promoters may use emails, fake websites, or alter or “spoof” their caller ID to make it look like a real charity is calling to solicit donations. Potential donors should ask the fundraiser for the charity’s name, website and mailing address so they can independently confirm the information. 

Use the TEOS tool to verify if an organization is a legitimate tax-exempt charity.

Be cautious about how a donation is requested. Never work with charities that ask for donations by giving numbers from a gift card or by wiring money. That’s a scam, the agency said. 

It’s safest to pay by credit card or check — and only after verifying the charity is real.

Don’t share too much information. Scammers are on the lookout for both money and personal information. Never disclose Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or personal identification numbers.

Don’t give in to pressure. Scammers often pressure people into making an immediate payment. In contrast, legitimate charities are happy to get a donation at any time. Donors should not feel rushed.

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