ATLANTA – President Donald Trump will be coming to Georgia to survey damage after Michael, a storm that came into the state as a hurricane and left as a tropical storm.
The devastation is unimaginable and and the death toll is rising around the Southeast.
In a tweet on Friday, the president said "People have no idea how hard Hurricane Michael has hit the great state of Georgia. I will be visiting both Florida and Georgia early next week. We are working very hard on every area and every state that was hit - we are with you!"
Georgia was hit hard and an 11-year-old girl in Seminole County lost her life. The storm destroyed thousands of acres of Georgia crops, the ready-to-harvest cotton crop getting the worst of it.
"For me, the cotton crop is as bad as it gets. I was picking three-bale cotton yesterday, today it is gone,” said State Rep. Clay Pirkle.
He is a cotton farmer and represents District 155, which encompasses Ashburn, Fitzgerald and Ocilla.
“Can't tell the difference between what I've picked and what I haven't,” he said.
Cotton is the state's top crop, and ranks second in the nation. Damaging winds drove much of the fiber to the ground, either tangling the cotton or making it a total loss altogether.
Trump spoke to Governor Nathan Deal on Wednesday about the impacts of Michael while aboard Air Force One. He also declared a state of emergency in several Georgia counties after Michael ripped through much of the state.
In a press release issued Thursday, the White House ordered federal assistance for response efforts. The president's actions authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to "authorize, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."
Several counties will receive 75 percent federal funding due to this designation.
