GEORGIA, — President Biden has declared an emergency in Georgia ahead of Hurricane Helene, which will make landfall late Thursday.
The declaration allows federal assistance to help supplement state and local response efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene. It also authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in anticipation of the impacts of Helene.
Disaster relief will be provided at 75 percent federal matching funds for the following counties: 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.
Public assistance emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care, including evacuation and shelter support, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding for these counties: 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.
Pubic Assitance emergency protective measures will also be provided at 75 percent for Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Tattnall counties.