Ag News

Ga. Ag Commissioner requests federal assistance for farmers hit by Hurricane Helene

Compiled from press releases issued by the Ga. Dept. of Ag, Gov. Brian Kemp's office & FEMA the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 4. 

Downed pecan trees in Jenkins County. / Photo courtesy of Wade Parker

 

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper sent a letter Sept. 30 to members of Georgia’s U.S. Congressional Delegation requesting immediate action be taken to provide federal funding to help Georgia farmers and producers recover from Hurricane Helene, the third Hurricane to hit Georgia in the past thirteen months. 

The letter was co-signed by House and Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee Chairmen Russ Goodman and Robert Dickey. 

The letter specifically requests federal aid be provided in the form of a Block Grant to the State of Georgia, which will provide greater flexibility than USDA’s pre-existing emergency relief programs. The full letter is available at https://gfb.ag/agcommisrequestsfedfunding . 

On Sept. 24, the day before Helene struck Ga., Gov. Brian Kemp directed the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) to activate the State Operations Center (SOC) in preparation for Hurricane Helene. He declared a State of Emergency Sept. 24 for all 159 counties, enabling emergency management teams to make necessary arrangements and position needed resources ahead of the storm's impact. Gov. Kemp also asked FEMA to grant Georgia an emergency declaration to further marshal resources and deploy them where most needed before, during, and after the major weather event. 

President Joe Biden approved the emergency declaration on Sept. 26. This action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

Federal funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures including direct federal assistance for Atkinson, Baker, Banks, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Dawson, Decatur, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Grady, Habersham, Hall, Irwin, Jackson, Lanier, Lee, Lowndes, Lumpkin, Macon, Miller, Mitchell, Pickens, Pulaski, Quitman, Rabun, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stephens, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Towns, Turner, Union, Webster, White, Wilcox and Worth counties.

Federal funding is also available for emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support for Appling, Bacon, Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Burke, Butts, Camden, Carroll, Catoosa, Charlton, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Dade, DeKalb, Dodge, Douglas, Elbert, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Glascock, Glynn, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, McDuffie, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pierce, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Richmond, Rockdale, Screven, Spalding, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker, Walton, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Whitfield, Wilkes and Wilkinson counties.

Finally, federal funding is also available for emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance for Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh and Tattnall counties.

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