Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp visits rural counties after Hurricane Helene
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp visits rural counties after Hurricane Helene
Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady of Georgia, Marty Kemp, spoke with community members in Wrightsville and Sandersville
SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — Some Central Georgians in Laurens, Johnson and Washington County woke up bright and early to hear from Gov. Brian Kemp about storm relief aid. He told folks resources are on the way.
“It’s just a blessing to see them come to these small communities and recognize that we got just the bigger problems they all got,” said Johnson County chairman James McAfee, Jr.
In the days after the storm, many rural Georgia communities are still recovering
Kemp says Georgia Power has over 20,000 workers getting people’s power back on.
“They had 1,700 poles that were destroyed this storm. They have 8,000. So we’re dealing with something like we’ve never seen before. But our response is something like we’ve never seen either,” Kemp said.
He also paid his respects to those who lost their life during the storm. He says he ordered a state-wide emergency because he knew the storm was going to be bad.
“We’ve been to a lot of these rural communities and seen how just how much they were impacted, but it’s also very heartwarming to see how the communities are pulling together — state, local response, to get things, you know, cleared out, get power company trucks in,” Kemp said.
McAfee says the small towns that were hit by the storm are just as important as the bigger areas in Georgia. He says first responders have been a big help during this time.
“If you don’t have good first responders in your small counties, you are lost. And we’ve had that, and we’ve been blessed by it, and we got some as good of people being involved in the world. They’ve been up since four o’clock, last Friday morning,” McAfee said.
During the Wrightsville visit, folks prayed for safety and to help those in need. Davisboro mayor Valerie Brown says the people in her town need help now.
“We don’t have any power. We have water, but we don’t have power. And the kids are out of school this week so that’s putting a burden on some of the families,” Brown said.
Brown says the people in Davisboro and the surrounding area need hot meals and some people need money for food. Kemp says people are working non-stop to reach reach as many Georgia as possible.
“We’ve literally been flying National Guard Black Hawk helicopters and delivering water, MREs, ice and other things,” Kemp said.
Kemp says they are working to set up PODS or points of distribution for people to get water, food, blankets, etc. He asks people to be patient as crews work their way across Georgia.