South Carolina Gov. Appoints State’s First Chief Resilience Officer

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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has named a longtime government employee already working on the state’s flooding recovery efforts as the state’s first chief resilience officer.

Ben Duncan, who currently directs the state’s Disaster Recovery Office, will marshal the state’s efforts in stemming floodwaters and coordinating recovery and relief work, the governor said. He must still be confirmed to the Cabinet-level position by the state Senate.

Duncan has worked in the Disaster Recovery Office since it was established in 2015, after historic flooding in parts of the state broke dams, destroyed homes and businesses and killed 19 people. The office has managed the grant programs that help people rebuild or repair homes damaged in major flood events over the past six years, as well as federal disaster aid.

South Carolina legislators passed an act creating the Office of Resilience last fall. The office will incorporate the current Disaster Recovery Office and oversee a statewide plan addressing flood risks and mitigation efforts. Towns and counties will be required to fold resiliency measures into their comprehensive plans as well.

Among the tasks the new agency will take on is figuring out how to allocate $162 million in federal dollars for mitigation efforts across the state.

So far, nine towns and counties have been approved for a total of $45 million, officials said Tuesday. Those funds will go toward buyouts of repeatedly flooded properties and infrastructure projects intended to fix flooding issues.

Among the largest sums are $9.9 million to the city of Charleston, to address flooding in its medical district, and $13.1 million to Horry County for property buyouts.

The Disaster Recovery Office has administered grants to repair and rebuild more than 2,800 homes damaged and destroyed in the 2015 storm and Hurricane Matthew the following year. Officials said they are beginning to start construction on homes damaged by Hurricane Florence in 2018.