Helene's worst brought out rural Georgia's best

WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. — They are the far-flung towns that often feel invisible when major storms wreak havoc on Georgia. And officials are still working in these rural areas to uncover the extent of Hurricane Helene’s devastation.

While former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris all made separate visits this week to Valdosta and Augusta, two epicenters of Helene’s wrath, some of the most serious fallout took place in far smaller towns and settlements across east Georgia.

Gov. Brian Kemp led a two-day tour through about a dozen of these off-the-radar communities this week, bringing along state emergency officials, local legislators and community leaders to see the scope of the damage for themselves.

Even hardened emergency officials were stunned at what they saw. Flattened chicken coups. Ruined crops. Downed trees. Homes and businesses smashed beyond repair. Communities in crisis.

But they also took heart at the first responders and savvy local leaders who helped respond after the deadliest Georgia storm in decades.

“Y’all are all supermen,” Matt Hatchett, a local legislator, told a group of exhausted chainsaw workers, firefighters and medics gathered early Wednesday at a Wrightsville fire station.

“Just remember that you’re taking care of everybody else, so you’ve got to remember to take care of yourself.”

At each stop, Kemp told residents a similar message. Helene was the most significant storm to barrage Georgia in his lifetime and cleaning up the mess it left behind will be anything but simple.

“We aren’t going to sugarcoat anything. It’s going to be a long, hard, tough recovery,” he said. “But we’re working hard, and we’ll work hard every day until we get it done.”

Here are a few of their stories.

Signs of progress

DOUGLAS — Getting to the seat of Coffee County is like navigating a maze.

Downed power lines, splintered trees and telephone poles split like toothpicks line the roads into Douglas. At its height, the storm knocked out power to 99% of the county’s Georgia Power customers.

As Kemp entered town, he marveled grimly at the destruction. Even a monstrous hurricane Helene’s size couldn’t have caused this devastation. It looked like a cluster of tornadoes spawned by the storm crisscrossed town.

It could have been worse. Local officials credit the quick thinking of Steve Carver, the county’s emergency management chief, for aggressively deploying resources and stationing first responders as Helene homed in on Georgia.

By the middle of the week, key routes around the county of roughly 40,000 were cleared and a massive potable water truck rumbled into town. A few more trucks were supposed to arrive later in the week. Crews scattered around town worked to restore power.

As bad as Coffee County was hit, it wasn’t on the White House’s initial federal disaster list. That’s important because getting that declaration opens the federal spigots for emergency aid. As word spread of the snub spread, so did a sense of outrage.

“Let me ask anyone in this room to raise their hands if they were upset,” Kemp asked dozens of emergency responders, who shot up their arms in agreement. “I heard a lot of people that had a lot of frustration. And I expressed that to the White House.”

By the afternoon, Coffee and more than two dozen other counties were added to the White House’s list.

Finally, some relief

HAZLEHURST – The fire station in the middle of town became the center of operations after Helene hit, and as Kemp arrived it was teeming with activity.

A team of Georgia National Guard troops worked to clear branches around town and hand out food and supplies to needy residents. First responders gathered each day to deliver updates in person rather than rely on shaky cellphone service.

And bays normally reserved for fire trucks were loaded with dozens of water pallets of water and other staples. They were being put to good use. A day earlier, the room was practically overflowing with supplies.

“Our residents have started to have some hope. Only 6% of us have power, but we are starting to clear the trees. Some areas look untouched, others are absolutely destroyed,” said Landon Chavis, a local councilman.

The big news, he shared that afternoon, was that a heavy-duty generator was on its way to the county fuel yard so that more emergency vehicles could gas up and get to hard-to-reach areas.

“There are some folks who are just now getting out of their homes after being trapped since Thursday,” he said. “It looks like a war zone.”

Chris Stallings, the state’s emergency chief, had an update of his own. A smattering of Georgia counties had begun to report damages. The initial $326 million tally was certain to grow, he said, as many in the room nodded knowingly.

As he scanned the weary eyes of many gathered around him, he noted that more National Guard troops were soon on the way.

“Let’s be honest, how many of you walked away from your own disaster, at your own property, at your own home to go help someone else?”

More nods.

“That’s what you do. And I’m so appreciate of that. But this will hopefully give you some relief so you can go back and focus on your own families.”

The worst and the best

ALAMO – This town of 3,000 was so devastated by Helene that two Chinooks airlifted supplies earlier this week. But an even more unusual delivery vehicle rolled into town late Wednesday: A 22-seat bus from a funeral home three hours away.

The bus is owned by Lauren McDonald III, a state legislator who runs a string of funeral homes in Cumming, Cleveland and Dahlonega. And he called his colleague, Carter Barrett, as he drove to his Rotary Club with a five-word suggestion: “We should fill it up!”

Barrett encouraged Forsyth County Rotarians to chip in, then posted an appeal to social media. Within two hours, the bus was teeming with bottles of water, cans of food, toilet paper and other much-needed goods. And he was maneuvering the bus through windy east Georgia roads.

“It shows how eager people are to help.”

His friend Blake Tillery, who represents some of the hardest-hit areas in the Georgia Senate, put it a different way.

“We’ve seen the worst of Mother Nature and the best of Georgia.”