BAMBERG, S.C. — Clean-up crews were in full force on Thursday, a week after an EF-2 tornado destroyed downtown Bamberg.
The mayor of Bamberg, Nancy Foster, said the city is putting every effort into cleaning up the downtown area that suffered significant damage.
"And tonight we are declaring at city council, we're declaring Bamberg as a disaster area as part of the progress to get FEMA in here and Governor McMaster," Foster said.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation had a crew out on U.S. 301 clearing parts of the road to allow way for clean-up crews.
Mayor Foster said the clean-up process for the downtown building includes several entities and steps.
"I don't think they can be built back; the three of them, I'm hearing, have to be completely demolished," said Foster. "There is a building on the end that's left, but I think it's been compromised somewhat, so we're trying to deal with that. But we've had structural engineers in, the insurance adjusters have had to come, so it's just a process."
Councilmembers said the plan to revitalize downtown is still in place despite the buildings having to be demolished.
Bamberg city councilman Corey Ramsey said the city will continue with previous plans.
"We want our citizens to know, we want our people to know, and our neighboring county and citizens to know that Bamberg is dedicated to rebirthing what was, and so we're building a better Bamberg," said Ramsey. "And we have to see what we see now as a vision for the future, not rebuilding because of disaster but rebuilding because there is a vision to build a better Bamberg."