Free legal assistance is available to disaster survivors in Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Kershaw, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Union and York counties and the Catawba Indian Nation who were affected by Hurricane Helene in South Carolina.

If you need help, you can call (803) 799-6653 ext. 120 or (803) 576-3815 8:30 a.m. -- noon; 1:00 -- 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. If after business hours, survivors can leave a message. The hotline is available to connect survivors to free legal services in qualifying counties who cannot afford an attorney.

Legal Aid may be able to help survivors in the following ways:

• FEMA and SBA financial benefits.
• Home repair contracts and property insurance claims.
• Re-doing wills and other important legal documents destroyed in the disaster.
• Price gouging, scams or identity theft.
• Landlord or tenant problems, or threats of foreclosure.
• Disability-related access to federal, state and local disaster programs.

The Disaster Legal Services program works with state and local partners to provide free legal help for low-income disaster survivors. The service is a partnership between the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, FEMA, and various organizations and volunteer attorneys.

Hotline partners cannot help in all cases. For example, the Disaster Legal Services program cannot take cases where a settlement could include legal fees or an award, but DLS can refer those cases to other legal help.