The State of Georgia and FEMA will be opening a Disaster Recovery Center in Lowndes County to help Hurricane Idalia victims in Cook, Glynn and Lowndes counties.
The Lowndes County EMA has released an update on the status of the hurricane relief efforts as well as safety tips for people who live in areas impacted by Hurricane Idalia.
Idalia swept through South Georgia with about 65-70 mile per hour winds, near seven inches of rain, leaving thousands without electricity, hundreds of downed trees, damaged buildings and dozens of destroyed homes.
“I think unity is everything. I hate that it has to be a disaster before unity. So to see people giving out food and helping people out, it means a lot.”
Though Southwest Georgia is now not expected to see impacts from Hurricane Ian, some southwest Georgia school districts and colleges are altering school plans out of an abundance of caution.
Hurricane Ian swamped southwest Florida, flooding streets and buildings, knocking out power to over 1 million people and threatening catastrophic damage further inland.
WALB spoke with some shoppers that did not want to go on camera, but they said storing water inside Ziploc bags and freezing them now will be a huge help. Having ready-to-eat foods, like fruit, canned items and bread, will be good items to have.
The Red Cross Southwest Georgia region has already deployed a small contingent of staff and volunteers to Florida. They say more could be sent in the coming days.
Hurricane Ida left hundreds of thousands of people in need across the states and some folks in South Georgia have taken it upon themselves to help those in their time of need.
It was reported that more than 22,000 power poles were damaged during the storm, and Wylie said it’s been a little more challenging in some areas to restore energy.