NEWBERRY COUNTY — In order to identify specific flooding problems in the state of South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster has developed the South Carolina Floodwater Commission alongside Commission Chairman Tom Mullikin in hopes to lessen the impact of flooding on the state.
Glenn Hamm, with the County Transportation Committee and Prosperity Business Association, has been assigned to a task force part of this commission. Hamm said within the past five or six years South Carolina has seen significant impacts of floodwater across the state.
“If we think back to Hurricane Matthew, Joaquin and even here with Florence that we just rolled out of in 2018, we see that flooding impacts the state of South Carolina, 46 out of 46 counties had been impacted by flooding,” Hamm said. “The purpose for this commission is to come together to identify how we can come back in and make a great impact into the flooding that we are seeing.”
Hamm said part of this will be accommodating and mitigating flooding, lessening the negative impacts to the state’s economy, and facilitating growth and tourism while assisting communities who are struggling with repeated flooding events. He added coordination is a key part of the Commission.
“We’re bringing a wide variety of people both from the public and private sector together to look at the problems in 10 very specific areas and to work towards that mitigation plan,” he said.
Some of the areas the Commission will be working with include artificial reef systems, living shoreline, infrastructure and shoreline armoring, grid security, landscape beautification and protection, national security and stakeholder engagement, just to name a few.
In Newberry County, when Hurricane Matthew passed through, according to Hamm, Newberry saw water waves go from six inches deep to 30 feet deep in some areas.
“The water levels rose so high and were so swift that it wiped out a very big bridge on a major highway system that’s right in the middle of Newberry County,” Hamm said.
He added over 60 roadways at some point were shut down when that flood came through.
“We had some roads that received significant impact so you’re talking dollars and cents here into the labor pools of both Newberry County Public Works, the towns and cities that make up this county, the CTC funds, Department of Transportation funds, economic impact,” he said.
While Newberry County is not commonly known for significant flooding, Hamm stressed the importance of flooding not just within Newberry, but the state.
“This is something that effects us in our town, our community and in our entire state which I really love serving. It’s a serious concern for our governor to continue to ensure financial, fiscal security as well as a security of infrastructure, the security of our shorelines, waterways, our agriculture, our tourism, all of that comes into it,” Hamm said.