The federal government is providing an additional $7.254 million to Richland County to help with flood recovery efforts.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Thursday it is providing a total of $163 million in additional funding to several states struggling to rebuild after natural disasters struck in 2015 and 2016, including Texas, Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina. Locally, Lexington County is being awarded an additional $5.038 million and the City of Columbia is receiving an additional $6.166 million.
The $7.254 million allocated to Richland County is in addition to the initial $23.5 million the County received from HUD for flood recovery in February 2016.
“These additional funds are truly appreciated and will enhance Richland County’s ongoing efforts to help residents who are still significantly impacted by the October 2015 flood,” said Mike King, Richland County’s Long Term Disaster Coordinator.
The funding will be provided to Richland County through a Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR), a type of federal grant that is received through the County’s Community Development Office.
“We are very grateful to receive these additional funds,” said Community Development Manager Valeria Jackson. “All of these millions of dollars sound like an overabundance of funding, but when you get down to it and look at the very large number of people affected and the number of homes damaged, you see how quickly the money spreads thin and how many residents are left without help.”
Registration is currently open for homeowners affected by the flood to apply for home repair assistance and mobile home replacement. Residents can apply for assistance three ways:
· In person, by dropping off a completed registration form at the first floor of the County Administration Building located at 2020 Hampton St., Columbia
· Emailing a completed registration form to RichlandCountyCDBGDR@sites.tetratech.com
· By mail, sending a completed registration form to Richland County Government, CDBG-DR Office, 1st Floor, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia, SC 29204
The Single Family Homeownership Rehabilitation registration form is available online at www.rcgov.us/floodrecovery . Residents are encouraged to visit the website, email recovery@rcgov.us or call 888-964-1589 for more information.
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