Mauldin Residents Distraught Over Ongoing Flooding

Several Mauldin business and homeowners are expressing distress after a summer of incessant flooding. 

Many met with city officials, county emergency workers and a Red Cross official Tuesday night to tell of property damage, insurance worries, and poor living conditions caused by all the water.

The city held the meeting to make those affected aware of available resources and what the city is doing about the problem, city administrator Trey Eubanks said.

“The city is providing some additional services — additional debris pick up for the flood prone areas just to help clear up any damage for the worst hit areas,” Eubanks said, adding that the city has stepped up mosquito spraying, too, the Greenville News reported.

Many residents expressed irritation with the city's response to the flooding. Holly Springs subdivision resident, Charles McNeil, was one such critic.

“My son and are still living in a condemned house with contaminated air,” McNeil said. “I have called the city. I have called Red Cross and I need some assistance. I’m living off my retirement and I’m a single parent. I’ve been eating out because my kitchen appliances are destroyed.”

Others expressed fears of rising insurance costs and other issues arising from the floods, such as the possibility of having to move or sell out.

“I know they have a lot on their plate,” resident Chris McMahan said of the city. “But if they would just say, ‘yes, this is what we’re pursuing. This is what we’d like to do’, then that would help. But they’re not even saying that. It’s probably a bunch of rhetoric at this point.”

In the meantime, a Facebook page has been set up especially for flood victims to share information and show each other support.

City officials said they are doing all that they can, but noted that the recent flooding is unprecedented in recent memory.

Mayor Dennis Raines said he has never seen anything like it in his more than 40 years here.

"Me and my wife have never been able to stand and look out at our patio doors and see water,” Raines said. “We did this time. It’s as bad as we’ve ever seen it. It’s a lot of devastation.”

More here.