‘We are scared and we feel abandoned’: Richmond Hill residents criticize city's response to Debby

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Richmond Hill resident Kristina Fredericks addresses the Richmond Hill City Council on Aug. 20, 2024, about flooding damage to her home and yard after Tropical Storm Debby.

Credit: City of Richmond Hill

Residents of Richmond Hill in Southeast Georgia's Bryan County this week criticized the city government's handling of flooding from Tropical Storm Debby, with several saying that there were longstanding issues with drainage systems that should have been addressed long before the cyclone's arrival.

Richmond Hill teacher Cindy Hatala was among 11 speakers who took to the podium Tuesday night at the first city council meeting since Debby drenched the area with about 10 inches of rain, flooding many city streets and parts of the neighboring Ogeechee River.

“We have had flooding issues [and] drainage issues for quite a while in Richmond Hill, and we seem to put Band-Aids on these issues, but they have not been totally corrected,” she said. “I've had children come in the classroom in tears, telling me their house is flooded and they're living in hotels and they don't have anything because everything they have is gone. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.”

Hatala said that she recently drove past a playground which was covered thigh-high with sewage.

Andrew Beauchamp said that 80-90% of the residents in his neighborhood on Rushing Street lost their homes, many of which were looted.

“It almost feels like a movie,” he said. “I've never in my life seen this. We are scared and we feel abandoned by our city officials. When everyone realized the water was not stopping, it was the community that got their a** into gear.”

The majority of residents in his neighborhood do not have flood insurance, Beauchamp said, as they were told when buying their homes that they do not live in a flood zone.

However, according to FEMA's flood map, residential parcels on Rushing Street lie in a low-risk flood zone with a 0.2% to 1% chance of annual flooding. The neighborhood is close to Sterling Creek, which is designated as a floodway by FEMA.

Kristina Fredericks said that she has been living in a “toxic wasteland” for a long time, made worse by Debby.

“I'm a mother with kids who cannot play out in the front yard,” she said. “Half of my home they can't touch due to the fact that I have everyone's toilet paper and tampons in my yard, in my driveway, in my street.”

Richmond Hill Mayor Russ Carpenter defended the city's preparations for and response to flooding from Debby, which he described as “an act of nature” and one that “simply could not be prevented. There was no drainage system, no policy and no plan which could have stopped this.”

Research shows that human-caused climate change is increasing the frequency of powerful cyclones like Debby, which was intensified by ocean temperatures along Florida's Gulf Coast that were about 5 degrees hotter than usual for August.