Is federal help available after Rock Hill hail storm caused over $5 million in damage?

The hail storm that ripped through southern Rock Hill April 20 caused over $5 million in damage. It’s not enough to qualify for federal disaster assistance for either local governments or people directly, officials said.

However, political leaders and emergency officials are seeking help as far up the White House, and urging anyone who had damage to make sure their loss has been included in the totals.

Federal dollars can be provided to a community if there is a disaster declaration after public damage reaches around $11 million, or 100 homes or more are destroyed, said Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management director. Five homes were destroyed in the April 20 storm, a county damage assessment showed.

“At this point, we don’t think we have enough damage to qualify for either,” Haynes said Monday.

Hundreds of York County homes had damage to windows and holes in the roof. Another 17 had major damage, emergency management statistics show.

The storm brought winds of up to 90 miles per hour and hail to a swath from York southeast to Rock Hill’s southern edge. The National Weather Service said it was the most damaging storm of its type in memory.

About 90% of the damage was inside the city of Rock Hill, Haynes said. City officials do not yet know what the cost of the storm will be, but agree there’s not enough damage in dollars or homes to reach the disaster level where federal dollars would help repay local costs, said Katie Quinn, city spokesperson.

The city will have bills due in the coming weeks for power poles, transformer, crews from other places that helped, manpower, and other costs, Quinn said. City and county officials have not identified where the money will come from in their respective budgets to pay for the public storm damage to infrastructure.

But both Haynes and Quinn said the storm’s damage totals don’t minimize what people are going through in their own homes and lives after the storm ravaged properties.

Political leaders to ask White House for help

While York County political leaders say the damage will not reach a disaster level, they’re trying to get political leaders go to bat for Rock Hill in Washington, D.C.

Democratic S.C. Rep. John King, whose district includes most of the affected area, said state leaders from both parties have talked to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster about asking President Biden for help.

“We are doing all we can to see if there is help out there for Rock Hill and the people who were affected in this storm,” King said.

Democratic state Sen. Mike Fanning, whose district includes the affected area, posted on Facebook he and other members of the bipartisan York County legislative delegation are working on a direct appeal to the White House. Only the president can declare an area a federal disaster, Fanning said.

“Gov. McMaster has agreed to send that letter to the president asking that somehow, we find a way to get federal help here,” Fanning said late Monday.

Democrats and area Republicans said officials are working together across party lines to seek help.

Republican S.C. Rep Brandon Guffey said he and others from York County, including Republican Rep. Heath Sessions and Sen. Wes Climer, have worked with King and Fanning in talking with the S.C. Department of Transportation, the state Emergency Management Division and other agencies.

Guffey, like the others, said it’s crucial everyone who has damage reports it to York County emergency management, so a full tally can be found.

“To ever meet any kind of threshhold, we need a total of what this storm cost the people of York County and Rock Hill,” Guffey said.

How to report damage

To complete York County’s damage survey, the link is on the York County government Facebook page. Click here to go straight to the link.

For people without internet access who want to report damage for the survey, call 803-325-2642. The city of Rock Hill has people at that number who can assist property owners and those who had damage with completing the survey, Quinn said.

Need debris removal or other help?

Volunteers groups who are local and from around the country remain in Rock Hill helping people with debris removal and other tasks.

For help with debris cleanup call the county’s crisis clean-up number at 803-250-3679. Someone there will connect you with a volunteer or non-profit group that is offering assistance.

For other storm questions, call the county emergency management office at 803-326-2300.