BRANCHVILLE, S.C. - It’s been nearly two months since a tornado packing sustained winds in excess of 140 mph severely damaged the small town of Branchville, but the mayor says the road to recovery remains bumpy and sometimes nearly impassable.

An estimated $2.2 million in insured and uninsured storm damage was reported in Orangeburg County, with the majority of the damage in Branchville.

The EF3 tornado damaged or completely demolished at least five businesses in the town’s historic district, including the sporting goods, hardware, grocery and feed stores and several homes.

The Churn restaurant and town hall were among the buildings that were completely destroyed.

Town employees are working out of a maintenance building. A recent break-in in the town clerk’s office makes plans for a new permanent facility even more pressing, the mayor said.

“As you can see, we’re not in a secured environment,” Branchville Mayor Tim Cooner said, looking up at a door in which a small glass window remains broken.

“In my opinion, we’re not moving like I think we should. There’s talk, but the preparation has not been done. At the pace we’re going, I don’t see anything happening in what I call a timely fashion. I would say that we won’t be in a town hall within the next two years unless something drastically changes,” said Cooner, noting that he’d like to see the town council pull together more in the revitalization effort.

Cooner said while he is sure the owners of the grocery store and The Churn ice cream shop are planning to rebuild, he was not aware of any other merchants who are going to rebuild.

Orangeburg County was not declared a federal disaster area, despite Cooner’s prayers, and now Branchville is largely relying on the help of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“There needs to be some money set aside for the state. I understand that money’s tight for everybody, but when you take a small town like us with a population of 1,200 and wipe out our grocery store ... and snack bar, you hurt the town. I mean, we still got people with canvases on the roofs of their houses. It’s bad,” Cooner said.

Homeowners, renters, nonprofit groups and businesses in the counties of Aiken, Allendale, Williamsburg and contiguous counties, including Bamberg, Barnwell, and Orangeburg, are eligible to apply to the SBA.

The SBA is offering loans up to $200,000 to repair damaged primary residences. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to replace personal property such as furniture, appliances and clothing. Loans to businesses of all sizes and nonprofit groups are available up to $1.5 million to repair damage to real estate, machinery, inventory and equipment. For small businesses only, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. The EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

Mary Gipson, an SBA communications specialist with the agency’s field operation office in Atlanta, said six disaster loans have been approved for a total of $312,700 in South Carolina. Allendale County has three approved loans totaling $218,500, while Orangeburg County has one $10,000 loan approved.

“We want to encourage the victims to return their applications on time,” said Gipson, noting that of the 119 applications which have been given out, only 43 have been received to date.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical damage is June 2. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Jan. 5, 2009. Cooner, however, is less interested in deadlines than he is in merchants’ abilities to pay the loans back. The cumbersome paperwork doesn’t help either, he said.

“I could go to a bank and get the money a lot easier than jumping the hoops that they want you to jump. The paperwork is astronomical. You just about have to have a lawyer to fill it out. I really don’t know how many people applied, but I would say it was less than a dozen,” said the mayor, noting that interest rates of 2.75 percent for homeowners and renters and 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years still remain out of reach for many residents and merchants.

A two-member committee has been charged with coming up with recommendations to present to the Branchville Town Council on how the town hall should be rebuilt, Cooner said. Building the town hall back at its original place on Main Street rather than in the old Branchville High School building is among the town’s options.

“After the storm, I met with an architect and got some preliminary drawings. I’ve carried them to council,” Cooner said. He said the committee is doing the best it can to come up with plans for a facility he has estimated will cost approximately $1.5 million. The town has already netted approximately $832,000 in insurance money for the repair or rebuilding of town-owned properties, including the town hall, Cooner said. He said $250,000 has been set aside for the restoration of town hall from the county’s one-cent sales tax revenue but progress remains slow.

“I think we’ve got monies available to build a new town hall. I think we should have passed an emergency resolution shortly after the disaster. It would have helped us with the procurement of an architect and contractor to get started. The town’s engineer said it was possible for us to be in a building within eight months,” the mayor said. “At the last council meeting, it was said that it was no big hurry and that we were working well out of the facility that we had. So, I’m kind of sitting back.”

The economic impact of the town’s annual Raylrode Daze Festivul, which is held in late September, has also been a concern, particularly with the severe damage the Branch Junction area sustained from the storm.

“(Orangeburg County Councilman) Harry Wimberly, I think, is going to contribute to trying to help us get some funds for that,” Cooner said. “And, I know (State) Sen. (John) Matthews is.”

Matthews said while funds have been secured to help the town rebuild concession stands for the upcoming festival, “that’s about all at this point.”

“For the other kinds of funds that he (Cooner) needs, there has been no answer yet. We’re still trying, but it looks a little difficult. The revenue is just down, and it’s just hard to get resources,” Matthews said. “We will continue to do our best for Branchville. It’s just one day at a time.”

Sixth District U.S. Congressman and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn says he is working to develop legislation to help Branchville and other areas across the nation hit with catastrophies receive disaster relief funds.

“I’m working with other states trying to put together a comprehensive bill that would allow all of those states that have suffered from these catastrophic events (to receive relief funds), though they’re concentrated enough in one state to trigger immediate disaster relief. I’ve got to get with these other states to do that. We’re working with the mayor, but once again, all I can do is get the legislation,” Clyburn said. “That’s what we’re working on.”

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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