Nearly one year ago, Hurricane Matthew came through our area leaving a trail of devastation.
The Town of Nichols was one of the hardest hit areas, and now, nearly one year later, they are a community still in recovery.
Rita Pratte, the Disaster Recovery Advisor from SBP, National Disaster Recovery Nonprofit Organization, is assisting the Town of Nichols. She said about a day after the hurricane, Nichols was the victim of subsequent rainwater that came through where the Pee Dee and Lumber Rivers converge causing an overflow and further flooding of the town.
In the beginning, the recovery in Nichols was slow. As the waters receded, the town then faced the challenge of reviving a devastated community. To aid in this process, a disaster recovery steering committee was formed to oversee the disaster recovery. Around $380,000 has been raised to support the town in their efforts. They continue to get donations and are working diligently to dispense these funds.
The Owner Occupied Housing Program was the first program to be established by the committee this past April. This is a grant funding program where the Nichols Steering committee allocates funds to nonprofit volunteer groups to rebuild homes of lowest income and most vulnerable citizens first.
A second program with a lesser amount of funding to address smaller unmet needs was also established to complete recovery plans for residents who are nearly home. Twelve projects have been completed since July.
A third program for temporary housing program was started to relocate families while their houses are under construction. Most recently, the town released a Business Incentive of $1,500 to all business who were open in Nichols before the hurricane and have now returned or who plan to return before December.
Donations help with the recovery as do volunteers. The Town hopes to see at least 75 percent of those who want to return home in their homes.
Pratte said if anyone has storm-related needs that still need to be met that they need to sign up with Palmetto Disaster Recovery case management. The deadline to sign up for Palmetto Disaster Recovery is November 10th, 2017.