COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said the state will have what's he's calling Team South Carolina County Days to help get people affected by Helene the assistance they need.
"[It] will bring state and federal agencies together to provide local residents and businesses affected by the storm," McMaster said about the events during a briefing Monday. "A one stop shop opportunity to learn and apply for relief sources available."
The first three events will be October 9-11th at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, USC Upstate's health education complex in Spartanburg, and Greenville Tech's student success center in Greenville. Other events will be held in the coming weeks in other counties, and McMaster said that information would be available later.
A total of 48 people have died from the storm, according to numbers provided by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety on Saturday. That includes 10 deaths in Aiken County alone, with another 9 in Spartanburg. In the Midlands, the most deaths were in Newberry County were five people died from deaths related to Helene.
One area that has significantly improved is power outages. As of Monday afternoon, 44,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.US, a website that collects data from numerous utility websites. At its peak on September 27, there were almost 1.4 million outages.
South Carolina Emergency Management Director said as of Monday, 29 counties are reporting 5,200 damaged homes with over 300 of those being destroyed and 1,700 with major damage.
FEMA is now accepting applications for individuals living in some of the hardest hit counties.
FEMA said the quickest way to apply is to go online to DisasterAssistance.gov. People can also apply using the FEMA app for mobile devices or call toll-free at 800-621-3362. The telephone line is open daily, and help is available in most languages. Give FEMA your number if you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or another service. People can view an accessible video on how to apply on FEMA's YouTube page.
What to know when you apply for FEMA assistance
- A current phone number where you can be contacted.
- Your address at the time of the disaster and where you are now staying.
- Your Social Security number.
- A general list of damage and losses.
- Banking information if you choose direct deposit.
- If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name.
The South Carolina Emergency Management Division has created the Hurricane Helene information line at the following number: 1-866-246-0133. People who have questions about the storm can call operators with the State's Public Information Phone System 24 hours a day. The number will be available for as long as needed.
State officials said people can ask questions about the state's response or any safety precautions they should take.