Hang In There, West Ashley

The flood of the millennium may have come and gone, but it left a mark on West Ashley and the rest of the Palmetto State.
The storm dropped literally trillions of gallons of water on the state, prompting President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency in 24 counties across South Carolina.
While neither the state nor the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have released official damage estimates, unofficial guesses have hit the $1 billion mark
While locals around here may not have been hit as hard as some in Williamsburg or Richland counties, everyone is facing many of the same obstacles on the road to recovery.
And according to those directly involved in the state’s recovery from Joaquin’s flood waters, there’s one trait most needed by everyone impacted by the storm: perseverance.
State disaster recovery coordinator Kevin Shewdo and Tim Ervolina, chief executive officer of the United Way Association of South Carolina, both said that South Carolinians need to let go of their bootstraps and pick up their phones and contact FEMA.
And, perhaps most importantly, Ervolina said, is not to take no for an answer. Because of tightened regulations following big checks being written by the federal agency after hurricane Katrina, disaster victims may need to go back several times to FEMA for assistance.
Ervolina described the process as “jumping through a tighter hoop of proof.”
Lauren Joyce knows well the process of jumping through that hoop.
Joyce, who manages a West Ashley restaurant, just closed on her first condo on Aug. 31 in the Pelican Cove complex on Ashley River Road. Barely a month later, she’s dealing with inspectors and contractors to rip out the carpet on her first floor and replace it.
According to FEMA spokesman Tim Holmstad, the federal agency has nearly 1,300 agency personnel on the ground in South Carolina, responding to assistance applications from more than 70,000 residents, with residents of Richland County comprising over one-fifth of that number.
Holmstad said that FEMA has approved more than $53 million in grants across South Carolina so far.
“FEMA was so easy to apply for; they were awesome … the first time around,” she said, saying that she got a rejection of claims notice in almost as little time as it took to apply.
“Now, though, I’ve had to reapply, to go through the process again, but this time with letters that have been notarized, and copies of work orders for the work’s that been done.”
“It smells weird in there now, not because of the water that flooded, but because of all the exposed concrete,” Joyce said with a laugh between Friday lunch and dinner rushes.
Ervolina caused a stink across the state last week when he commented in Statehouse Report, published by West Of contributor Andy Brack, that FEMA seemed to be more in the job of denying claims than solving problems. This week, he didn’t waiver in his assessment.
Shadowmoss resident Janet Segal seems to have had as hard a time with FEMA as her house did with Joaquin’s gurgling waters.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, I know we didn’t have it as bad down here as they did in other parts of the state,” Segal said, worrying about homeowners in other parts of the state who weren’t required to purchase flood insurance.
But, she wished public officials had their collective acts together better in the immediate wake of the historic deluge.
Little things, like questions as to whether she should rent a pod to store her salvaged first-floor furniture, or a massive outside dumpster to contain all the drywall and flooring sure to be ripped out, went unanswered.
Segal worried that if she rented or fixed items in the wrong order, before FEMA weighed in and mold showed up, she’d be footing the entire bill Catch-22 style.
“Water came in to our detached garage about 6” deep and the house garage about 2” or 3” deep. We were very fortunate,” said fellow Shadowmoss resident Janet Fincannon. “A lot of our neighbors got flooded real bad in their homes and cars.”
Fincannon  said that water in her backyard, behind the detached garage, was about 2.5-3 feet deep. “We could not get out of our driveway until Monday night since Shadowmoss Parkway was so deep. One car flooded in front of our house.  Another car parked in our driveway and [the driver] waded home.”
Fincannon put up a “No Wake” sign on her mailbox because as the water started to recede to the point where her and her husband could start removing it from the garage, someone in a raised pickup truck put off a wake so large that it made all of the water that was just removed came flooding back in.
A few blocks a way in Providence Commons, where Lake Dotterer’s waters rose and engulfed yards, insurance companies have already ridden in to the rescue.
One resident, who did not want to share his name with West Of, had a total loss of two family cars. He said his lakefront home and dock were quickly surrounded by storm waters. His already paid-for 2013 Volkswagen Jetta and his daughter’s paid-for 2006 VW Golf had about “a foot and a half” of water in them.
His insurance agent told him that both cars were a total loss, and cut him a check. “He said that agencies everywhere were cutting checks even if there was only an inch of water, because they didn’t want to be held hostage two, three, four years down the road for possible damage.”
Luckily for this resident, the checks were almost what he had originally paid for the two cars, the only real cost being one of inconvenience. “And the insurance made rental cars available right away, so even that wasn’t so bad,” he said.
During his interview, the man received a text from his son who works out of state in the car business, saying that his next car was being detailed that very minute and would be ready to be picked up when he arrived in a few days.
So, again, West Ashley, the lessons are these: stay calm, don’t take no for an answer from FEMA, apply for assistance early and often, and it will work out. It just may take some time.
And be glad Joaquin, while so destructive, was still so much more gentler here than he was in other parts of South Carolina.