CONWAY, SC (WBTW) –New numbers from Horry County show the clean-up process for Hurricane Matthew is a lot more expensive than county leaders originally thought.
Back in October, the county estimated about 150 thousand cubic yards of debris that would cost about $6 million for a contractor to clean-up, but the debris and the price tag was a lot more.
“We just couldn’t get to everywhere and didn’t realize how bad the damage was our first damage assessment and it was a guesstimate basically on how many cubic yards it was going to be. It was just off because we had no idea how bad it was really,” said council member Johnny Vaught.
Now, crews are finished with the first phase of picking up debris, and the price is about $7.7 million.
County Spokesperson Lisa Bourcier told News13 back in October they were documenting all of the expenses to give to FEMA to reimburse the county.
“They always tell you document, document, document. We have a lot of our staff that solely is responsible for making sure that we keep adequate records so we can get reimbursed for it,” said Bourcier.
Vaught says they’re still waiting to hear from FEMA on whether or not they’ll cover the cost, but in the meantime, they’re looking to use other funding programs through Watershed and the USDA to avoid using tax payer dollars.
“We have to go to every other option available to try to get funding before we rely on FEMA, and so, that’s what we’ve been trying to do, to get all that sorted out,” said Vaught.
Now, they’re moving to ditches and basins around the county to clean up any remaining debris.
If you’re cleaning up your own yard, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority will no longer take limbs and yard debris in plastic bags. You’ll have to either put them in a paper bag or carry them to the landfill to drop off.
