Watch: Farmers Still Recovering From Historic Floods

Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — More than 6 months after the historic floods, farmers are still struggling to recover and leaning on the state for assistance.

“It was hard to watch that weekend and just seeing what we knew were good crops in the field and not being able to do anything about it,” said Turbeville farmer Jeremy Cannon.

On Wednesday, Cannon recalled the day the historic floods swept through hundreds of acres of his farm.

“Everything was looking pretty rough,” explained Cannon.

Several months after the floods, the impact can still be seen on Cannon’s farm with nearly 600 acres of soybeans completely destroyed.

“We didn’t pick any cotton, we had 265 acres of cotton and didn’t pick any of it, it was a total loss,” explained Cannon. “We harvested 2 fields of soybeans, they were nearly 90% damaged.”

The damage to Cannon’s farm totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars and only half of it was covered by insurance, placing further financial burden on him as he prepares for next year’s crop.

According to the State Farm Bureau, farmers suffered about $250 million in losses after insurance and they are seeking roughly $40 million from the state to help get farmers back on their feet.

“If we can get it quickly, it will be enough money to let farmers access those dollars so they will have dollars to put into seeds and fertilizers so they can get a crop in the ground in 2016,” said State Farm Bureau President Harry Ott.

A bill including the $40 million dollars did pass the House earlier this year, but has yet to reach the Senate for debate. Until then, Cannon remains optimistic.

“The fact that we’re still farming another year, even though it’s going to be difficult, it’s hard to see it penciling out, there’s hope,” said Cannon.