By Herbert Jacobs,
Dillon County Census Count Committee
Over the past 10 years, South Carolina has been impacted by several episodes of severe weather. This weather has caused problems in Dillon County as well.
In 2015, we had the “100 year” flood when excessive amounts of rain fell, soaking the soil, raising the groundwater levels and producing widespread flooding. In 2016, Dillon County went through Hurricane Matthew with its wind, rain and flooding. In 2018, our county was hit by Hurricane Florence. With all of these natural disasters, residents of Dillon County suffered consequences. We had injuries. We had flooding. We had downed trees and damaged homes and other property. We lost bridges that had to be re-built. We had roads that had to be closed and abandoned for a while. We had the loss of electrical power for days. We lost food items both in our refrigerators and freezers and on our farmlands. We had gasoline and food shortages at our local neighborhood stores.
These natural disasters uncovered some real weaknesses in our Dillon County’s infrastructure
We. need and still need additional funding to make our emergency disaster management program stronger. We need more dollars so that we can improve our ability to manage water drainage and control flooding throughout Dillon County.
We need more money to make improvements in our emergency shelter preparations.
Making a complete and accurate count of all of the residents of Dillon County can help us get some of that needed money. The more people in our county that are counted in the 2020 Census survey, the more money that we get in federal funds to pay for those needs that were mentioned earlier in this article.
If we do not count all of our people, then, we do not get our fair share.
What we do not get will go to some other county that does a better job of counting its residents than we (Dillon County) did. Based on the latest data (9/03/2020) from the U.S. Census Bureau, our neighbors in Marion County, Marlboro County and Florence County are ahead of us in Dillon County with their counts. If they are more accurate and complete with their count than we are with our count, part of what we lose in money will go to each of them. So, please continue to respond to the survey. Assist the field Census workers as they visit your homes. We have less than 30 days left to be fully counted in Dillon County. DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2020. Responding to the 2020 Census is easier than ever.
You can go online at:
www.my2020census.gov
by phone at:
1-844-330-2020
by mail at:
Fill out the paper form. Mail back in postage-paid envelope.