ROCK HILL, S.C. —
Nearly a week after a severe thunderstorm caused extensive damage in Rock Hill, cleanup efforts continue. Many residents impacted by the storm were left without power for days.
Latisha Lee was one of those residents. Crews were in her backyard working to fix powerlines for her and many of her neighbors.
Piles of debris and fallen trees line neighborhood streets.
"I had to throw away most of my food in my house," Latisha Lee, who was one of many left without power following the storm, said.
She said a tree landed on her car which was parked in her driveway. But she also said she is remembering to appreciate the little things in life.
"I thank God that everyone was fine," Lee said.
To help those who empty refrigerators, FARMacy, a local nonprofit, is providing food to low-income families who sustained damage in the storm. FARMacy is closed right now after sustaining damage but the crew is still working to deliver fresh produce to families in need.
Cleanup efforts continued Saturday with several community members volunteering their time to help homeowners struggling with the damage.
The city’s neighborhood services department offered tools to help with the cleanup. Jason Weil is the City of Rock Hill Community Engagement Manager. He said, “after any sort of disaster it takes time for the resources to get to the community and we know that people are hurting right now. We wanted to do what we could to help.”
Volunteers like Pearl Jones was pleased to see more than 100 community members volunteer their time to help others. “We're still community together. And that was wonderful to see. They were youth. They were children. They were adults, older adults, that we all work together. And, and that's all we did. We just all got in and started doing it. And it was great. It was great," she added.
Each helpful hand making a big difference for homeowners like Tonya George. She said, “it meant a lot, because all week, I've been like, going through emotions because I didn't know how this was going to work.”
“While we are going to be down for a little while, we are going to continue to work," Johnathan Nazeer, the founder of FARMacy, said. "Hundreds of folks are affected by us not being open. If you get $20 worth of produce, if you have $2, we will take it.”
FARMacy will be selling food out of their parking lot. The neighboring church is also helping people. Church officials will be helping people if insurance has denied claims for storm damage repairs.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.