Horry County, S.C. — The Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Horry County Buyout Program began phase 1 of demolition on Thursday, June 20th, 2024. A total of 33 homes in the Socastee area of Horry County are scheduled for demolition during this phase between now and September 2024. Phase 2 of the demolition will include 25 properties. This milestone results from an extensive program that launched in June 2021 with the goal of buying out 61 homes on a voluntary basis. 

The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR)’s voluntary buyout program aims to relocate citizens out of dangerous, repetitively flooded areas. Eligible homeowners experiencing repetitive flooding to their homes applied to the program and, after an appraisal of their property, received a buyout offer from SCOR for their property. Following acceptance of the offer, all structures on a property are scheduled for demolition, effectively returning the land to open green space. This long-term solution moves citizens out of harm’s way while strengthening community resilience by increasing natural floodwater management solutions. 

The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) administrates this buyout program, which is funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s CDBG-MIT program. SCOR originally awarded Horry County $12.7 million for the Socastee Buyout and committed an additional $4.3 million in 2023 to expand the possibility for program participation to more homeowners in Horry County. It has since closed 52 projects in the Horry buyout program, meaning the properties have been completely bought-out and are ready for demolition; six buyouts are actively underway.