Simpsonville Mayor Advocates for Flood Funding in Washington, D.C.

Simpsonville Mayor in D.C. Advocating for Flooding Funding

Simpsonville’s Mayor Paul Shewmaker is taking the City’s flooding issue to the Nation’s capital looking for solutions. However, an Upstate couple says help may not come soon enough to save their home. Ellen Bradshaw said she and her husband Matthias have been dealing with storm damage for the past two years. She said, “We talked to Greenville County land development, and they said that 138 acres currently drains to our yard.”

She showed photos she took during storms that show how high the stormwaters reach. She said, “We moved in. We didn’t know anything about it obviously, but ever since we moved in, we’ve been dealing with it. Like I said, it happened like 6 or 7 times last year. So this year it’s already happened twice.”

Impact on Homeowners

“We’ve been here for two years,” Matthias said. “This is our first home.” Bradshaw explained, “When it rains, we’ve got the City stream here, and these two main storm drains, and then a stream in our backyard and two streams from these neighborhoods, and it all just collects and, and causes flooding at our house.”

She said the damage goes beyond the home, “It definitely has affected my mental health. It gives me like crazy anxiety. If somebody mentions rain like, I can’t even be around.” Bradshaw and her husband said that flooding doesn’t require hours of rain. Bradshaw said, “This happened six times last year, just with all the rain that happened, but with it can be a quick storm. She added, “It’s taking out the foundation. All the erosion is just ruining the foundation. There’s pinholes in all the brick foundations.”

Advocating in Washington, D.C.

Now, the issue is being taken to Capitol Hill. Simpsonville Mayor Paul Shewmaker said, “The state of South Carolina has had 7-billion dollars of flood losses in the last 12 years.” Mayor Shewmaker is a member of the American Flood Coalition, an advocacy group working on getting state and federal funding to help communities that experience flooding, like Simpsonville.

Shewmaker is one of 43 local elected officials in Washington, D.C., advocating for federal funding for stormwater flooding. He said, “I think it’s really important to understand what the American Flood Coalition is doing for us as local leaders. We have a voice, but when those voices come together and act together, we have a much greater impact, and that level of advocacy has been something that’s very important to learn about and be a part of.”

Hope for Solutions

He’s meeting with agencies, learning how to access federal funding to help homeowners like Ellen and Matthias. Ellen said, “This house’s foundation will collapse before they can get all of the money they need to fix the stormwater problems.” The couple doesn’t believe they’ll be able to sell their home.

Ellen said, “The people who flipped this house redid the entire brick facade in 2022. So that’s really the only reason that’s holding up. Yeah, never disclosed it in the closing documents.” She added, “This property has been flooded and inundated with water for so long that the chance of them being able to find a solution in time for this House to stay standing is not really there.”

Possible Solutions

While the couple said they don’t think the home will last much longer, they hope the City could be interested in the property. Ellen said, “I would love to see a grant or a loan, and them buy this. This home, this land, everything, and create a green space that can act as a retention pond for the neighborhood. We already kind of do, but we live here.”