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Senator urges unified response after lake breach; says prior FEMA application was denied
Summary
State Sen. Jerry Long told Marlboro County officials a prior FEMA request tied to a lake breach was denied and urged a team of local, county and state officials to pursue repairs and resources; council and city leaders said they will coordinate updates and repairs after the storm.
Senator Jerry Long addressed Marlboro County Council during the emergency meeting and urged a united local, county and state response to repair a breach at a local lake. Long said a prior FEMA grant application for the issue — "dollars about 12,000,000" — was declined and called for a team of officials to pursue remedies and funding.
Long described the breach at the lake and the downstream impacts that followed: "We watched that water come in and start going down downstream ... next, 12–15 feet deep," he said. He repeatedly urged local elected officials to form unified teams and stressed careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Why this matters: council members and state delegation representatives said the lake and dam situation affects downstream roads and residences and will require coordinated engineering and funding solutions if damage is confirmed. Long and others referenced prior work to clear pipes and ditches and noted agencies such as DOT and resilience teams could be involved.
Long advised the council that pursuit of federal assistance will require organized requests and possible appeals, and he urged local officials to gather documentation and to present a united front to the state and federal delegations. Council members responded by committing to continued coordination and to publish written updates after the storm.
The senator’s remarks also referred to a previously-declined FEMA grant request tied to the breach; the meeting record does not include a federal response or an appeal outcome. The transcript uses multiple variants for the lake name ("Lake Paul Wallace" and "Lake Paul Waters"); the council did not provide a definitive, standardized spelling during the meeting.
Next steps: county and city officials said they will continue coordination with state delegates and agencies after the storm and will publish weekly written updates.
