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One of the many Upstate, South Carolina counties devastated by last week’s brush with Hurricane Helene has condemned the S.C. Emergency Management Divison (SCEMD) for failing to include their region within a disaster declaration for federal assistance.
On Friday (October 4, 2024), a spokesperson for Laurens County, S.C. issued a candid statement on both the totality of Helene’s impact – and SCEMD’s exclusion of multiple areas in its request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“During the eye of the storm, county staff was already hard at work,” the spokesperson wrote on Friday. “While (the county) has done everything in their power to assist our citizens, inaction on the part of state and federal authorities have made our rescue efforts much more difficult.”
According to the two-page statement, Laurens County coordinated with S.C. Department of Social Service (SCDSS) workers to open emergency shelters in the immediate aftermath of Helene. Extensive rescue efforts were thereupon initiated, according to Friday’s statement.
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(Andrew Fancher/FITSNews)
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“County administration and staff fed first responders, communicated with state and federal officials, set up points of distribution to deliver food and water to citizens, cleared roadways and canvassed the entire county so that all citizens were accounted for,” the spokesperson added.
Nonetheless, Laurens County was among several disaster-stricken areas either excluded from a declaration for assistance by S.C. Governor Henry McMaster — or denied assistance upon FEMA’s partial approval of his order on Monday, September 30, 2024.
Within hours of learning that his county was excluded from federal assistance, Laurens County administrator Thomas R. Higgs II recorded a damning phone call with SCEMD director Kim Stenson. The conversation – which took place at 4:00 p.m. EDT today – was promptly transcribed and provided to FITSNews.
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According to the eight-page document – which detailed every word of the conversation between the two officials – SCEMD provided FEMA with “incomplete information” for an “albeit incomplete” request in hopes of expediting the state’s declaration for federal assistance.
“So, you know, I guess basically through inefficiency, we probably missed a few counties in doing that,” Stenson said. “And it certainly has nothing to do with you folks and anything that you did or did not provide.”
Stenson furthermore noted that while Laurens County was considered for FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program, the federal agency “probably” denied McMaster’s request based on “the incomplete information that, you know, (SCEMD) provided.”
According to the transcript, Higgins thereupon told Stenson his emergency management team had received multiple death threats during their assessment of Helene’s damage. He furthermore noted that looting was widespread and cited concerns over large-scale rioting.
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(Andrew Fancher/FITSNews)
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“Our FirstNet program went to the complete failure point,” Higgs told Stenson. “Our 911 system went down… It was a five-day window when people started getting relief for Hurricane Katrina. I don’t even have PODs set up and we’re rolling into day five.”
According to the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), Helene is expected to be the second deadliest hurricane to strike the continental United States this century after Hurricane Katrina, a category five catastrophe that reshaped the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005.
“Yeah, that’s not good,” Stenson said on his call with Higgs. “Um, I’m not really sure what the potential solution is here, but we’d be glad to provide, you know, like a quote or something from us, saying that you guys did everything you could.”
This past week, Helene’s official death toll surpassed at least 210. According to the S.C. Department of Public Safety (SCDPS), at least 46 casualties were recorded in the Palmetto State.
This story may be updated.
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THE TRANSCRIPT…
(Laurens County)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Dynal Nolan/FITSNews)
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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15 comments
MAGA Republican are the most incompetent (by design) fools you’ll find in government.
At least we get to see what “Libertarianism” looks like in the real world.
You elected them…
Shut up..?
You elected them…
Shut up..?
Hi, Top Bot.
SC has screwed itself putting MAGA fuckups in so many positions of power or consequence.
They are too dumb and incompetent to do any job. You get what you vote for.
Please…I spent a career in government and can testify that democrats screw up everything they touch. Democrats don’t have God at the center of their decision making process and it’s evident. Democrats are like alcoholics. You see, the alcoholic doesn’t realize they have a problem, but everyone with a clear mind can see how bad the problem is. Likewise, democrats don’t realize they are ignorant and evil, but everyone with a clear mind can see how ignorant and evil they really are.
“I spent a career in government”
Damn, River just proved government incompetence.
When did political choices alter Hurricane destruction. Incompetence is the very foundation of modern government and the people whose taxes fund this tragic waste of money are fed up with government. Of, by and for the people may have meant something at one point but have long been just words on paper. Government employees and elected officials should be the most accountable and removable people employed by we the people. Thanks to qualified immunity Government almost never is held to any standard of conduct. Unless or until we the people understand that Government is the worst solution to any problem things won’t change. I want answers not name calling. I want the oaths of office posted on the door of all who make one. I want violations of that oath to carry penalties with hard time mandatory. I want treason to be defined and punished and above all I want real answers by people who fear the consequences of lying.
“ Unless or until we the people understand that Government is the worst solution to any problem things won’t change.”
But you are mad the government isn’t doing more?
Conservatives are whackadoodle when it comes to government. Give me everything but charge me nothing! Stay out of our way but help us out! Don’t bail anyone out unless I need a bailout! Don’t forgive loans unless they’re mine!
Sane, reasonable, adult humans realize government is a necessary evil to a point, and have realistic expectations of what it requires from us, and what we require from it, and act and vote accordingly. Unfortunately you can’t have a grown up conversation with people who never fully matured.
I’m pretty conservative, but you’re not wrong. I once tried to get a SC House member to understand that transparency (specifically through FOIA abuse) costs taxpayers. I don’t think it ever sunk in.
After “Chuckie Wright (Sheriff of Spartanburg County…) ran his mouth the last few days ago kissing Donald Trump’s ass and slamming FEMA up in Rutherford County NC (Why the fuck did he have any business being there in the first place…He left Spartanburg County hanging so he could go up there to run his mouth off…WTF???) This whole situation has taken a life of its own and the poor people who have to live with this shit day after day suffer because of people like “Chuckie’ espousing political views and putting their worthless 2 cents worth of BS into the mix with out really helping one damn bit
After the division I’ve seen I’m not sending one more damn cent let alone a a pair of socks to anyone in distress anywhere within a 50 mile radius of Spartanburg County thanks to Chuckie and and his MAGA ilk.
The dispossed and downtrodden are on their own from here own out as far as I’m concerned thanks to Chuckie Wright and the MAGA bunch. If they want it that way “up there” then By God they can have it that way…..
There’s a saying around Spartanburg County (ever since “Chuckie” became sheriff…): “Chuck Wright has NEVER seen a camera that he does not like”
‘Nuff said…..
I would understand the comments better if we all didn’t pay extremely high taxes but as it is we are all paying for these services.
I’m a certified emergency manager with 22 years of experience, currently helping out in Hurricane Helene response. I went to Laurens to assist, and all Thomas Higgs and Brown Patterson did was WHINE!!!
I’m from Charleston, and this is the biggest bunch of INCOMPETENT BABIES that I’ve ever seen. All that the worried about was how they were looking on Facebook, and how they were going to settle scores with anybody that dared to criticize them. I’ve never seen such a group of children masquerading as grown men as you have with these two dregs on society.
Never once did I hear the first bit of genuine concern as to how relieve a battered county’s suffering while I was there trying to help out.
All Patterson was concerned with was “howwill this look on Facebook.”
Grow a set, both of you. Both of you need to be fired, and I mean today!!!!!
Just look at Laurens County tax bills that just got mailed out. Mine went up over 50%!! So did my friend’s tax bills.
This is totally the fault of County Council Chairman Brown “FATASS” Patterson. Just look at this guy, and you’ll see that he don’t even respect himself. Nobody else does either.
Council never voted on this, Patterson just ordered Higgs to raise taxes, and they did it.
I was part of the state hurricane response in Laurens. From Georgetown. It was a total disaster within a disaster. Some local/state/federal agencies are actually using Laurens way of responding to disaster as a model of what NOT to do.
Every time that I would try to get an answer on something from anybody leading the county, they would try to get me to buy a weedeater from this Brown Patterson guy.