That layer of green powder blanketing your car signals the annual springtime onslaught of pollen in the Upstate and the allergies it triggers.

The pollen count was high on Wednesday and is forecast to be high at least through Sunday, according to pollen.com, a North Carolina health information and research company.

Trees are the current culprit sending out pollen as part of their annual reproductive cycle.

And as spring unfolds, it's keeping allergists occupied.

“We have been very busy,” said Dr. Emil Sarmiento of the Allergic Disease and Asthma Center in Greenville.

“It started really strong in February, and then the rain came and ... brought down the pollen count,” he said.

“But once the weather settled, the pollen count went up," he added. "And all that water was good for the trees, which start pollinating. We’re getting the vengeance of the trees now.”

Mold spores have also been a problem because of all the rain in recent months, he said.

So if you’ve got the tell-tale runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing and other symptoms associated with seasonal allergies, what can you do?

Sarmiento offers these helpful tips:

1. Do what you can to avoid the pollen.

“Pollen counts are highest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” he said. “So you should postpone your outdoor activities until after 5 p.m. or before 10 a.m.”

2. Stay clean

Because pollen sticks to the hair, eye lashes, clothes and skin, shower and wash your hair after coming in from outdoors and wash clothes with hot water making sure to machine dry them and not hang them outside, he said.

3. Stay covered

Wear a mask and/or sunglasses or goggles and gloves while gardening or mowing the lawn, he said, and close the windows in your home and car to keep the pollen out.

4. Take your medicine.

“There’s a lot of over-the-counter medication ... that's available now, like Xyzal, and the generic, Levocetirizine,” he said. “It’s a 24-hour antihistamine. Some people may get sleepy ... so I tell people to take it at night.”

Nasal sprays like Flonase and Nasonex, and their generic counterparts, can help congestion and inflammation and are now affordable over-the-counter options as well, he said.

“But don’t overuse it,” he said. “If it says to take it once a day, take it once a day."

There are new eye drops on the market as well, such as Pazeo, that will calm itchy eyes, he said.

5. Get evaluated

If you still have symptoms in spite of taking those medicines, Sarmiento advises seeing a doctor for an allergy evaluation to learn what substance or substances are triggering your allergies. Allergy shots are available for those people as well as pills for some allergens, he said.

And there are newer medications on the market for a subset of patients whose symptoms aren’t controlled by high-dose steroids and inhalers, he said. Those drugs reduce symptoms by affecting the body’s immune response to allergens.

The Upstate is in for several more months of troublesome pollen that will plague allergy sufferers.

“For people with allergic asthma, tree pollen is an important trigger,” he said. “We now have tree pollen until mid-May and then grass pollen.”

And of course, ragweed season starts in late summer.

For the daily pollen count, go to pollen.com.

COLUMBIA – Gov. Henry McMaster and administration officials announced a long-awaited plan to respond to the impact of climate change on a growing population. Released June 29, the plan focuses on beefing up the state’s data collection efforts and conserving the state’s natural defenses against rising seas and stronger storms.

The hefty report, which runs 746 pages and contains more than 50 recommendations, focuses on better data collection efforts, mitigating flooding by conserving natural environments like swamps and forests and encouraging local governments to introduce regulations that reduce risky development in flood-prone areas.

The new effort is the direct work of the state's Office of Resilience, a cabinet agency that was created in 2021. Building resilience to increasingly strong storms is an ambitious goal for a new agency. The question remains: what will change for communities most affected by hurricanes?

A new focus on anticipating storm impacts is one of them.

"This work and our history is very tied to hurricanes," said Carissa Cochrane, the communications director for the South Carolina Office of Resilience. The predecessor of her current office was a temporary agency that went by another name — the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office — which was formed in 2015 during the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin.

Cochrane said the term "resilience" came to the forefront in the years the temporary agency was responding to Joaquin and later on hurricanes Matthew and Florence. In addressing hurricane recovery, she said, the state realized it needed to do a better job at collecting data, anticipating flood waters, increasing community awareness and safeguarding protective area that already exist.

They also were intentional about defining what resilience means for South Carolina.

"We define resilience as the ability of communities, economies and ecosystems to anticipate, absorb, recover and thrive when presented with environmental changes and natural hazards," said Cochrane.

One of the visible changes that coastal communities can expect as a result of the plan is a new flood hazard signage program. This will provide road signs that point out the high water mark in places with high storm surge. The height of the sign will be the height of high water mark, said Cochrane, and will help increase public awareness of hazard areas.

Another visible outcome will be the conservation of undeveloped natural areas, like coastal wetlands and forests, that already provide flood protection and mitigation.

The resilience office plans to hold public meetings within the state's eight watersheds to get local input on which areas should be prioritized for conservation and other resilience planning decisions. At the beginning of 2023, the office received a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation to hold a series of public meetings in the Salkehatchie River Basin. Cochrane said that could be a model to replicate in the state's seven other watersheds.

Coastal communities will not see these new flood signs or conserved areas pop up any time this year. Those projects will take time to roll out.

But state officials and the governor insisted that plan will provide an immediate benefit for this year's hurricane season: a much expanded effort to collect better data on flooding and flooded communities.

"Our state has a lot of water," McMaster told the press. Mostly, that’s a good thing, he said. "But we will have a problem if we don’t take the steps to find out what water we have, where we have it, when we have it."

The state's resilience plan is backed up some $200 million in funding McMaster secured from the legislature in this year’s budget negotiations for resiliency efforts.

The office also hopes to move quickly to drastically increase the number of weather stations and river and groundwater monitors around the state. The move will improve understanding of water patterns and how they’re changing, as well as improve the state’s ability to adapt and predict, said Alex Butler, the Office’s Resilience Planning Director, who led the creation of the report.

For instance, recent studies have shown that not only are South Carolina’s tides rising with climate change, the state’s coast is sinking, Butler said. But there aren’t any on-the-ground sensors measuring the phenomenon. It was discovered through remote sensing, which is often done with aerial or satellite observation, he said. The office hopes to change that, and fast.

Finally, the state hopes to use education, outreach and encouragement to local communities to introduce more stringent building regulations to ensure more homes and businesses aren’t built in risky areas. Butler said the office also hopes to create a “pre-disaster buyout” program that would offer cash to homeowners in flood-prone regions to move out before catastrophes. The current program only buys out homeowners after storms.

The resilience office intends to take the new plan on a statewide “road show” in the coming months to coordinate with local officials and watershed districts, Butler said.

The strategy offers another view of McMaster’s approach to climate change, which none of the speakers mentioned directly during the announcement.

McMaster has focused on adapting the state to climate change with a strong emphasis on conservation, while efforts to stem carbon emissions are not directly mentioned. Yet, McMaster has become a national leader on promoting electric vehicles and hosted a recent energy summit in Columbia that featured significant discussion of nuclear technology.

The resilience report itself contains myriad references to climate change and climate science.

“Here in South Carolina under the governor’s leadership, we’ve been able to dispel that you have to choose between economic and environmental sustainability,” Tom Mullikin, the former chairman of the S.C. Floodwater Commission and who has been deeply involved in shaping the state’s resilience policy, said June 29.

South Carolina is the second to last state on the Eastern Seaboard to adopt a resilience plan. But Ben Duncan, the state's chief resilience officer, stressed that they have been working on many of the initiatives outlined in the report since the office was founded in 2020.

"Every state has taken this differently. I wouldn’t say we’re late to the party, but … certainly there’s no time to lose," Butler said.

Jackie Macaulay, owner of Jarrett’s Jungle, prepares a tropical bouquet. She is getting ready for Valentine’s Day amid supply chain issues and a shortage of flowers. Photos by Abigail Brandon

As another Valentine’s Day arrives, supply chain issues continue to plague small businesses around the Midlands. Floral shops are no exception.

Due to a high demand for flowers, increasing shipping costs and lack of supply, Floral Elegance by Jourdain in Columbia has had to raise prices this Valentine’s Day. Owner Ruby Jourdain said she hasn’t seen anything like this during her 35 years in the floral business as she has gone from vendor to vendor searching for flowers and vases.

While demand is about the same, she said, “the cost is a lot more and securing the product is a lot harder this year than ever before.”

Floral Elegance is not alone in struggling to find Valentine’s Day musts. Nearly 42% of wholesale small business respondents reported foreign supplier delays in late 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This includes Jourdain, who says she gets her roses from South America.

Jarrett’s Jungle, a florist in West Columbia, also buys a lot of flowers from overseas. According to Jackie Macaulay, the owner of the shop, shipping delays have resulted in quality and quantity issues.

“We’re not having that big of a problem because we’re not that big of a volume business, but I know it’s affecting everyone who’s a florist right now,” Macaulay said. “Not being able to get the quantities and qualities that you were always used to.”

Keith Skowronski, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, said a lot of supply chain issues are due to labor shortages and a decrease in demand over the last couple years.

“All supply chains, in general, are tough things to change or turn them off to turn back on. It’s not a light switch,” Skowronski said.

These supply chain issues come at an unfortunate time for florists who say February is the busiest time of the year for flower orders. However, Macaulay said she has adjusted by getting her flowers from more accessible places like Florida and California.

Despite this year’s setbacks, Floral Elegance has had more orders this Valentine’s Day compared to years past, said Joe Price, a delivery driver for the shop.

“People are going to buy for their loved ones even if it means budgeting other places,” Jourdain said. “You got to have flowers for Valentine’s Day.”

Other Valentine’s Day gifts – such as stuffed animals and gift bags – haven’t been much of a problem to buy for Jourdain.

Both Jourdain and Macaulay encourage customers to order as soon as possible. Macaulay says with a limited amount of flowers this year, customers may miss out if they order too late.

“I think we have 550 or 600 roses ordered, so once I sell all of those dozens, then I don’t have anymore and I’m not sure if I can get anymore,” she said. “Plus, I’m not sure if I can make them all if I do get more than that.”

Amid these challenges, Jourdain remains positive with just a few days until Valentine’s Day.

“I think we’ll be able to pull it off,” she said. “I’m optimistic.”

Ruby Jourdain, 86, has owned Floral Elegance for almost 35 years.

ABOUT THE JOURNALISTS

Cam Adams

Cam Adams is a senior multimedia journalist from Greenwood, South Carolina. He writes at Metsmerized Online, part of the USA Today Network. Adams has worked as a sports writer and an assistant sports editor at The Daily Gamecock, the student paper at UofSC. In his free time, Adams enjoys watching Marvel movies and keeping up with sports. He plans to become a sports writer at a daily newspaper where he can use his skills to best serve that community.

Abigail Brandon

Abigail Brandon is a multimedia journalist from Columbia, South Carolina, with a passion for radio. She has worked at UofSC’s college radio station WUSC as a DJ and as a reporter for WUSC News. She is known for telling a good story and plans to transfer that talent into telling engaging and informative audio stories.

We are continuing our student spotlight series this week with Michelina Nardone! Michelina is a senior biological sciences major with a minor in Nutrition. She is originally from Seattle, Washington. This past summer, Michelina was a COPE Health Scholar at St. Joseph’s hospital.

Schmid College: Tell us about your experience as a COPE Health Scholar at St. Joseph’s!

Michelina Nardone: As a Cope Health Scholar, I had the opportunity to experience a variety of departments within a hospital setting. I first worked on the pulmonary renal floor, then the mother-baby unit, and now the emergency department! Each floor has a different day-to-day schedule. For example, pulmonary renal would mainly consist of feeding patients, taking labs down to the laboratory, and observing. The most interesting thing that I had the opportunity to observe was dressing massive wounds on both legs of the patient. The nurse explained each part of what she was doing and why, which helped keep me engaged in the process. As for the mother-baby, I was able to observe a circumcision and expand my knowledge on the health of the baby and mother postpartum. This is information that I will be able to apply to my own life in the future. Currently, I am shifting to the emergency department, which has been my favorite so far! What I find fascinating about the emergency department is that it encompasses all parts of the body. The emergency room is broken into sections, including wound care, x-ray, mental health, and much more. The beauty of shifting in this department is that I am able to observe a multitude of procedures, from suturing a deep wound to reading EKGs.

Another thing I would like to add is that I am a part of the leadership team for the St. Joseph Site in Orange! My specific role is the recruitment coordinator, and I love it. This position helps me gain and improve many professional skills that I will need for the near future. For example, I present to a wide range of college campuses about our program, which helps me improve my public speaking skills. This program is amazing because not only is the highlight getting hands-on clinical experience, but it allows scholars the opportunity to grow their professionalism.

SC: Why did you apply for this program?

MN: I applied to this program because one of my good friends at Chapman recommended it to me! She was boasting about how exciting each one of her hospital shifts was, and I was very intrigued. At the time, I was actively looking for shadowing opportunities in the Orange area. When she explained that this program was more than just observing, it was taking vitals, connecting with patients, and working alongside other healthcare workers. I was instantly fascinated and decided to apply.

SC: Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact or change this experience in any way?

MN: I joined the program right as the pandemic hit. The program gave the option for health scholars to take a leave of absence if they did not feel comfortable being in the hospital, but I decided that this is when the hospital needs our help the most, so I kept shifting. In the beginning, the hospital was extremely slow because everyone wanted to stay away. Therefore, my job at the time was also fairly slow. After about 2 weeks post-COVID, there was an influx of patients at the hospital, and my job became very busy. I am not allowed to work directly with COVID patients. Still, by helping the nurses, CNAs, and doctors with simple tasks, I helped them focus on the treatments and more time-sensitive jobs.

SC: How did Schmid and your academic program prepare you for the COPE Health Scholar Program?

MN: Because I am an anatomy and physiology emphasis, I was able to take Physiology B during the spring of my junior year. In the lab, we learned where to place the EKG leads on a person’s chest and how to read and interpret the test results. Being in the emergency department, I have been able to witness lots of different procedures, and analyzing an ECG was one of them. I was able to read the results and place leads on the patient without the help from a nurse (the nurse was observing to make sure I was doing it correctly), an experience that my previous internships did not allow me to do.

SC: How did this experience support your career goals?

MN: In the future, I want to attend medical school and become an emergency room physician (subject to change). This experience has connected me with many health care professionals and has helped solidify my career path. I cannot imagine myself doing any other career.

SC: What was the most important thing you learned this summer?

MN: Patience and compassion are key when working with patients. I have been able to observe a variety of healthcare professionals, all having different styles of delivering health care. Patients boast about their doctors when they can connect with them on a personal level, which is the type of doctor I dream of becoming in the future.

SC: What advice would you give to other students interested in programs like this one?

MN: Apply even if you are hesitant! I would recommend this program to anyone thinking about being a future health care professional, whether it be physician, PA, or nurse. The program gives you exposure to working with different types of healthcare workers, including the administrative side of healthcare. If you have questions about the program or want to know more about my personal experience, feel free to email me at sjorc4@copehealthscholars.org.

The Cope Health Scholars program is an amazing way for students to learn about the medical field! The deadline for the winter session is September 30. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to Michelina at the email provided above or contact the Center for Undergraduate Excellence.

As the country enters it's second year of the pandemic, stress levels are higher than before. Doctors recommend having a coping skill to help with mental health.

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IRMO, S.C. — As the pandemic continues to impact the world, mental health has become an internal battle for many people. Doctors recommend everyone have a coping mechanism to deal with the stressors in their lives.

Renee Downs, a resident in Irmo, says her coping mechanism is spending time in her garden.

"It’s vital, it’s very important," Downs said. "I don't think I miss a day. Most of the time I don’t. I have to do something and it just balances me out."

Downs has been living in Irmo for nearly 8 years. She said she gardens every morning and evening and has planted more than 300 plants.

"They call me Crazy Flower Lady," Downs said. "If you come out in the morning, I’m outside. If you want to reach me, I’m outside. I’m always outside," she said. "It’s something I would hear the kids say, ‘That lady is outside again planting flowers' or doing this and, many times, even the kids would want to come out and just look at the flowers."

Downs said her gardening is an obsession, but it's very therapeutic and her way of coping with stress.

"On the days that I’m not gardening, well, I shouldn't say that. I’m always gardening," Downs said. "Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I am walking through the neighborhood, power-walking through the neighborhood and that helps a lot, too."

"Sometimes I will be out here so late my husband would send our dog outside to come get me in," she added. "I look up and see that the sun's gone."

She told News19 that on days she is not in her garden, she de-stresses by reading, cleaning the house, and watching football with her husband.

Dr. Kimberly Kruse, a neuropsychologist at Prisma Health in Richland County, said everyone handles stress differently.

"Just because a friend or someone else is engaging in a certain coping mechanism or hobby, it certainly does not mean that you would like that one," Dr. Kruse said.

Dr. Kruse said the ongoing pandemic increased the mental health crisis. She said there are two different types of stress someone could face.

"Dealing with stressors of this type can be challenging because they're long-term and persisting, as opposed to a stressor that would be acute or short term, which tends to have a beginning and an end," Dr. Kruse said. "When you're dealing with persisting stress, it's happening over a long period of time and the brain does not get the message that it can return to normal functioning.

Dr. Kruse said that, as a result, we tend to see people in "a state of hyperarousal or increased alertness" all as they attempt to navigate their daily routines, roles, and responsibilities.

Dr. Kruse said continuous stress can lead to the loss of memory, high blood pressure, anxiety, and other health problems.

"When people have, have a lot of things going on, or when you tend to be focused on multiple stressors at the same time, you have less effort and ability placed on encoding information or receiving information from your environment," Dr. Kruse said. "Each individual knows their own baseline of what they know they can tolerate and what they are tolerating on a daily basis."

As such, she said that anytime you see a change or departure from your typical abilities or skills, it may be time to reevaluate your lifestyle and remove any stressors that you have control over.

RELATED: National Suicide Prevention Month: Resources Available in SC

Downs said she thinks everyone needs to have their own coping mechanism for better mental health.

"You should fit time in for yourself, for relaxation," Downs said. "Anything that brings you joy, and this is what brings me joy. So with all the craziness going on in the world, this is my retreat, this is where I come to."