COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
SPARTANBURG WORKS TOGETHER TO RECOVER FROM HURRICANE DAMAGE
The name Helene will not be soon forgotten across the Carolinas.
The Tropical Storm, which violently churned through Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina
on September 27, brought howling winds that uprooted trees, flooding rains, and power outages that
lasted for over a week in some places.
“Without a doubt, this event was like nothing any living person has ever experienced here before,
and as far as we can tell, it is like nothing in recorded history,” said Trisha Palmer, warning
coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Greenville-Spartanburg International
Airport. “We had the rain and the wind. Often when we have a big tropical rain event, it’s a
slow-moving storm and the winds die down. If we have the wind, it’s a fast-moving storm and not
accompanied by the rain.”
As the storm approached, forecasters used analogs to warn of its intensity. The Great Flood of 1916.
The Big Flood of 1949. And Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Ultimately, Helene swept through the area with more intense winds and heavier rainfall than those
events.
“The flooding that we ended up having in the mountains was incredible. It was not just a
hydrologic event, but a geologic event. There was so much water and erosion that basins (the landscape)
actually changed,” Palmer said.
As Helene swept through in the morning hours of Friday, Sept. 27, Spartanburg County – true to
its nature – began a collaborative recovery process.
Organizationally, OneSpartanburg, Inc. shared information about local businesses that could help with
debris cleanup, and promoted local businesses as they began to reopen in the storm’s wake.
Special emails were sent out, alerting local business representatives of the resources available to
them from FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and more.
“This is an incredibly resilient community,” said OneSpartanburg, Inc. President and CEO
Allen Smith. “Our team really stepped up and did all we could from a communications standpoint to
ensure our business community had immediate access to all available resources and
information.”
Coordination and communication about recovery resources stretched far beyond the walls of the
OneSpartanburg, Inc. office, though.
The United Way of the Piedmont’s United For All Fund accepted donations just a few days after the
storm to provide aid to those community members who need it most. On the ground, the UWP works with
local partners and a group of Community Resource Coordinators to identify where need is greatest, and to
allocate funds in an intentional way to make the most impact.
Since the storm, the United Way of the Piedmont assisted 955 households with more than $435,000 in
direct financial aid and support for housing, food, fuel, insurance deductibles, and more.
“Disaster response takes a lot of teamwork and adaptability. We’re so appreciative of the
hard work from our team, 49 volunteers, and other partners who quickly launched into action to support
fundraising and immediate relief assistance,” said Abby Harwell, United Way of the Piedmont
director of communications.
The City of Spartanburg opened T.K. Gregg Community Center and C.C. Woodson Community Centers for
showers and charging devices, serving 100 families. Additional shelters opened at places like the Hodge
Center at USC Upstate, Miracle Hill Spartanburg, as well as at numerous churches and even large venues
like the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium and Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
As the lights started coming back on, debris removal efforts kicked off.
Countywide, 35 crews worked 12+ hours a day, clearing more than 250,000 cubic yards of debris,
according to Scottie Kay Blackwell, communications manager for Spartanburg County.
“Our initial estimate was half a million cubic yards of debris across our county. As we continue
to assess the damage, we’re now thinking it’s going to be well over a million cubic
yards,” she said. “The magnitude of this storm is something we’ve never experienced.
Patience is going to be key. We promise we’re going to get it all picked up, but it is certainly
going to take some time. We expect it to be 2025 before everything is cleaned up.”
Jes Sdao, marketing manager with the City of Spartanburg, said crews in the city also worked 12+ hours
per day, collecting more than 79,000 tons of storm debris that will be ground into mulch.
“The City’s Public Works Department initially received 367 calls for downed trees (many
reporting multiple trees), which only captures a small amount of the actual damage, as many trees down
on private property were not included in these reports,” she said. “There were 170
structures in the City that sustained significant damage, and 269 additional structures had other types
of damage like shingles, power meters ripped off, and things of that nature. In total, over 400 homes
suffered damage. The scale was unprecedented, with no one in the City escaping significant
impacts.”
Spartanburg County’s wide-reaching and heavily-used trail systems took a hit during the storm.
PAL: Play. Advocate. Live Well! manages dozens of miles of trails – both active and under
construction – countywide.
PAL Executive Director Laura Ringo said all trails have reopened, but debris remains in areas due to
the sheer force of the storm.
“Many of the segments are along creeks and in wooded areas…and those areas took a hard
hit,” Ringo said. “Most of our trails are paved, which means they are designed to go
underwater when there’s flooding to minimize erosion. So the asphalt did ok during the flooding,
but the supporting amenities like fences and benches saw significant damage, with many ending up
downstream.”
Ringo said the community’s response to the storm was incredible and diligent, with crews of
volunteers donating their time to trail clean-ups in particular.
“As one volunteer stated, these [trails] are a public amenity and come with public
responsibility. This commitment to service speaks volumes about our community,” she said.
Spartanburg City Manager Chris Story added that countless residents helped friends, family members, and
neighbors in need.
“I’d like to thank our community for a remarkable time of positive responses,” he
said.
“Without hesitation, community member stepped up and helped their neighbors in need. From cutting
down trees and clearing driveways to performing welfare checks and delivering food and other
necessities,” said Blackwell. “It’s uplifting to know we have so many good people in
Spartanburg County, especially in times like these.
Harwell said the United Way’s recovery efforts have shifted to long-term work for those who
suffered the most from the storm, losing their home, cars, or more.
In the wake of Helene, she like many others was proud of the community-driven response work done around
Spartanburg.
“We’ve been amazed by the level of impact and outpouring of support from our community in a
relatively short period of time following Helene. Spartanburg is a collaborative community under normal
circumstances, and disasters like Helene show just how collaborative but also resilient people here
are,” she said.
