Rosewood Strong is a grassroots organization of flood survivors in Socastee, SC founded in 2018 after repetitive flooding inundated their homes and endangered their community, which had been ignored by elected officials and deemed not to be in a flood zone. Flooding came without hurricanes, and homes rebuilt were ruined again. Rosewood Strong’s mission is to advocate on behalf of all flood survivors and demand that authorities take action to protect residents. This includes updating existing flood maps and stopping repetitively-flooded homes from being sold to unsuspecting buyers. Due to Rosewood Strong’s activism, they were able to secure funding to help relocate flood victims. In early 2021, Horry County received nearly $15.6 million in federal grants for flood mitigation activities, with over $13 million dedicated to relocating repeat flood victims in Socastee. These funds will buy out 60 homes that have been damaged, demolish them, and use the land for green infrastructure.
Rosewood Strong is a powerful example of what a small group of tenacious, passionate neighbors can do. Flood victims in arms, co-founders Terri Straka and Melissa Krupa led the charge to bring attention, assistance, and authentic change to their devastated community. It “looked like a war zone,” according to Straka, who like Krupa, has now relocated to higher ground. Giving the state a “run for its money,” Rosewood Strong convinced Gov. McMasters to bring in experts who would partner with residents—not make decisions for them. “Rural areas often get overlooked, so there have to be representatives from the community to stand up to officials and get rural and other residents the provisions that are rightfully theirs,” Straka said. “Now, the South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) has been modified, upgraded, and is effective, and I’m proof of that with my buyout. SCOR is doing some great projects, including upgrading drainage systems, and they’ve been able to give out a lot more funding to communities.”