Dorchester County emergency manager urges strengthening preparedness as FEMA grant rules shift

Tom McNeil, Dorchester County director of emergency management, told council on June 2 that the National Hurricane Center is projecting a 60% chance of an above‑normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season and that residents and the county should continue hurricane preparation.

McNeil said an "above‑normal" forecast means more named storms than average but cautioned that "it only takes one" storm that makes landfall to cause significant damage. He reported the county is tracking an early disturbance off the coast and reminded the public that county hurricane guides will be available at Dorchester County libraries by the end of the week.

McNeil described recent and ongoing preparedness work: expansion of the county emergency operations center (EOC) as a training venue; an annual pre‑season exercise scheduled for June 20; growth of the county's swift‑water rescue capability into a proposed regional team with Berkeley County and the Town of Summerville; public outreach including a well‑attended hurricane expo at Ashley Ridge River Park; and a Tri‑County regional emergency management planning effort that produced a regional strategic plan and a mass‑casualty incident plan.

He said federal preparedness and recovery grant programs support a significant portion of his office budget and warned of potential reductions. Citing the Office of Management and Budget technical supplement circulated to Congress, McNeil said draft budget proposals would cut the FEMA State Homeland Security Program about 36% and require a 25% local match, cut the Urban Area Security Initiative funding about 25% while also requiring a 25% match, and cut the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) about 15% (EMPG already carries a local match requirement). McNeil said federal grants historically cover roughly 29% of his office's annual budget.

Those changes, he said, could also raise the federal threshold for presidential disaster declarations above the current level the state has relied on, increasing the local and state financial burdens after a disaster.

To prepare for that possibility McNeil recommended several approaches already underway or under discussion: anticipate reduced federal disaster aid; consider disaster‑specific finance reserves or a county disaster relief fund; assess enterprise fund balance policies to determine appropriate disaster balances; prioritize hazard mitigation spending (he said mitigation yields multiple dollars of recovery savings per dollar invested); strengthen state and regional partnerships; expand community preparedness including CERT and partnerships with faith‑based and nongovernmental organizations; and pursue targeted grant applications that emphasize mitigation and recovery capability.

McNeil also described planned practical measures: purchasing chainsaws and protective equipment with a Duke Energy grant for a mobile trailer to stage asset‑protection crews, training county staff and volunteers to safely clear debris, and expanding CERT roles to manage points of distribution and staging areas following disasters.

Council members asked about volunteer and CERT roles, school‑level apprenticeships, how citizens with personal boats should respond in floods, and steps council could take now. McNeil replied that high‑risk swift‑water rescues require trained teams and that untrained volunteers with boats put themselves and responders at risk; volunteering is better directed toward support roles. He said the county already runs summer worker and internship programs and that county staff and administration have begun internal discussions about contingency finance options and enterprise fund policies.

Why it matters: Dorchester County officials described a mix of operational improvements and longer‑range financial decisions intended to limit reliance on federal disaster reimbursement if national policy changes. Council members and staff said the county's improved EOC, mutual aid contributions to other jurisdictions and regional planning position the county to respond to more frequent or severe storm seasons, but they also signaled the need for budget and policy changes if federal assistance declines.

Ending: McNeil invited council members to the June 20 EOC exercise and said hurricane guides and zone maps are available through county channels and hurricane.sc for residents seeking evacuation zone and preparedness information.