ATLANTA — Federal officials have declared a public health emergency for Georgia on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra made the declaration in the aftermath of Helene to make way for emergency personnel to address potential health impacts following the storm.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region, just shy of Perry. Helene was downgraded to a powerful tropical storm as it moved through Georgia.
There are about 200 medical providers and disaster management professionals in states impacted by Helene: Florida, Alabama, Georgia and crews are now en route to North Carolina, according to officials.
“We will do all we can to assist Georgia officials respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” Becerra said in a news release. “We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”
With the emergency declaration, Health Care Situational Assessment Teams (HCSAT) have been deployed to help determine the storm's impacts on hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers and other health care facilities.
Earlier Friday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta was without power after an outage and a tree fell on the facility's emergency generator, marking at least one medical facility needing assistance following Helene's impacts.
Four health and medical task forces and one Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) will help following assessment findings.
Kemp is expected to conduct a briefing on Helene's aftermath from Lowndes County on Saturday morning.