President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for 11 Georgia counties: Appling, Brooks, Coffee, Columbia, Jefferson, Liberty, Lowndes, Pierce, Richmond, Tattnall and Toombs.
With the declaration, workers in the 11 counties may be eligible for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance to compensate for income lost directly resulting from Hurricane Helene. FEMA said it made federal assistance available to Georgia residents in 30 additional counties.
“The damage we have seen across Georgia and in the Southeast is unprecedented,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones, a Republican, said in a statement. “Today, we were notified that the Biden/Harris Administration has only approved an emergency declaration for 11 out of 90 counties requested in Governor Kemp’s emergency declaration.
“This news is disheartening and I urge the current Administration to expand the declaration immediately so that all impacted areas can receive the resources and help they desperately need,” Jones added.