Three flood-damaged home purchases in Horry County’s Socastee Flood Buyout Program closed this past week, marking a major milestone in the program and in flood mitigation for area property owners. The county is expected to close on an additional ten properties in the coming weeks and continue to move the remaining applicants through the eligibility processes.

The Socastee Flood Buyout Program is the result of successful collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies, with Governor Henry McMaster, Senator Stephen Goldfinch, and Representative Heather Crawford at the helm of securing funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make this buyout project possible. The funds are provided through the HUD Community Development Block Grant Mitigation program (CDBG-MIT).

“The progress of this Buyout Program has been a team effort,” says Chief Resilience Officer Ben Duncan. “We’re thankful to state and local leadership, as well as our partners at HUD and Horry County, for working together with us to help bring assistance to residents of the Socastee area.”

Following the purchases, Horry County will take ownership of the properties and the homes will be demolished, impermeable surfaces such as driveways removed, and property cleared of all demolition debris. The property will be returned to green space in perpetuity. Any future use of the purchased property is limited by covenant to passive open greenspace uses.

In addition to the Socastee Flood Buyout Program, the SC Office of Resilience (SCOR) has awarded HUD CDBG-MIT funding to Horry County for several other flood mitigation projects including infrastructure projects at Big Bull Landing Road, Cowford Swamp, and McCormick Road, and a study to determine causes and possible solutions to flooding in the Buck Creek and Simpson Creek areas.