South Carolina governor estimates losses from Florence at $1.2B

CHARLESTON -- South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says the state's financial losses from Florence are estimated at more than $1.2 billion.

McMaster provided the damages estimates Thursday in a letter to the state's congressional delegation.

Among the breakdowns included in McMaster's letter is an estimated $125 million hit to South Carolina's agriculture industry. The governor noted that some of the estimates were based on damage resulting from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

McMaster has requested federal disaster-recovery funds be made available for 23 of South Carolina's 46 counties.

He wrote the damage from Florence in the northeastern area of the state "will be catastrophic, surpassing anything recorded in modern history."