$1 Billion in Hurricane Aid OKd; Bush to Sign It

Congress on Thursday approved $1.1 billion in emergency aid for the victims of Hurricane Hugo, Capitol Hill’s largest disaster-relief package ever.

The White House announced that President Bush will sign the legislation, perhaps when he visits South Carolina today.

“There never was this much money,” said Bill McAda, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “But this also may well be the most damaging one (hurricane) in history.”

Senate Was Unanimous

The aid was attached to a stopgap spending resolution intended to keep government agencies operating when the new fiscal year begins Sunday. The spending measure passed the Senate on a 100-0 vote and cleared the House by voice vote.

“I have never seen so much damage in my life,” Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) told his colleagues before the vote. “It looked like there had been a war there. . . . We need all the help we can get.”

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) had said that damage in his state was closer to $3 billion to $4 billion, but that getting that amount of assistance would be impossible without forcing across-the-board federal budget cuts.

McAda said the aid cannot go for home or business repairs to people who have insurance. But he said the assistance provides for loans of up to $10,000 for people “who have needs and cannot qualify for (private) loans for some reason or other.”

Bush to Tour Scene

At the White House, presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Bush would fly to South Carolina today to get a first-hand look at the devastation left in the wake of the hurricane’s passing a week ago and may sign the legislation while he is there.

Fitzwater said Bush wanted “to make sure that all that can be done is being done.”

In addition to Bush’s visit, a congressional delegation led by House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) is scheduled to tour Charleston and Florence today.

Meanwhile, Charleston International Airport, closed since the storm hit, reopened to limited commercial traffic Thursday.

Roof Damage

The airport concourses were not open because of roof damage suffered in the storm. “It’s not pretty but it works,” said David Jennings, chairman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority.

The hurricane, which smashed into South Carolina on Sept. 21, has been blamed for 29 deaths in the United States, 18 of them in South Carolina. The storm also killed at least 33 people in the Caribbean.

An estimated 203,000 utility customers in South Carolina remained without power Thursday, more than half in the Charleston area. About 50,000 Charleston-area residents had been displaced by the storm, officials said.