‘Bright sense of optimism’: Augusta turns a corner in Helene recovery
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s getting close to two weeks since Hurricane Helene strafed the CSRA, and now things are looking a lot brighter for Augusta.
“If you look at where we were Day 1 and Day 2, we were really struggling,” Mayor Garnett Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “Today, we’re in a really good place.”
Among the signs of change:
- The city dropped an overnight curfew that’s been in place since Helene.
- The city marked the last day of its final “point of distribution” for storm assistance at Southgate Plaza.
- Electricity has been restored to 98% of customers in Augusta – a number that’s close to how many were out of power after the storm hit on Sept. 27.
- Debris cleanup is well underway.
“We’re on this path to recovery,” Johnson said. “There’s this bright sense of optimism.”
In fact, one of the few negative things mentioned at the news conference was an increasing mosquito problem due to Helene. But Johnson said the city is working on that.
He said the “point of distribution” site at Southgate Plaza, 1631 Gordon Highway, would be shutting down at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
We’ve spoken to several volunteers who say people have come through the line for themselves or they are picking up resources for another family.
“It’s one of those things where as soon as the storm happened, I went into the mode of how can I help? How can I help?” said Terry Wills, Southgate volunteer.
Maybe it’s picking up a case of water, opening a car door or just showing up.
“It’s easy to focus on our own loss, in our own circumstances, but in the end, it’s not just us. You know, so many of the workers and the city employees. They’re dealing with the same crisis we are,” said Wills.
Johnson said: “Our ability to recover is still some ways off and that there’s still a lot of trees that are down, even though our power is being restored. We have water, but there’s still going to be a lot of cleanup, as you can imagine.”
There were originally several of these locations in the city offering clean water, hot meals, tarps and charging stations – leading to long lines of cars as city residents dealt not only with lack of electricity but a dayslong shutdown of the water system.
Helene’s victims include first responders who died helping others
Among Helene's victims were two Saluda County firefighters, but they were not alone in dying as heroes as the storm lashed the region.
And while the points of distribution sites are moving away, the need is not going anywhere anytime soon.
“I would ask that if you have the ability to look up social media on your phone, for those of you that are still struggling with hot meals and just some of those simple resources that you look out to, some of our neighborhood churches and some of our neighborhood partners and you will find something,” said Johnson.
Wills said: “So many of them are out here for themselves. But then there were a lot of other people who were bringing back to their community. The elderly who weren’t able to get out, the disabled who weren’t able to get out or those who did not have transportation.”
Also winding down is the help from the National Guard. Service have been working not only at Southgate but also on city streets cleaning up fallen trees. They were among the first resources on Sept. 27 who cleared roadways in Richmond and Columbia counties.
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Although Southgate will shut down as an aid distribution site, McDonald’s will bring in free meals to offer there from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday – and possibly Friday and Saturday if supplies last.
One shelter – down from a few at one point – remains open for people whose homes can’t be occupied. It’s at the Henry Brigham Community Center, 2463 Golden Camp Road.
After starting earlier than expected on Sunday night, debris cleanup is shifting into high gear.
There are now 24 trucks driving the streets to pick up storm debris. That’s up from 15 on Sunday, but the city wants to have 75 running through the 90-day cleanup process.
The trucks picked up about 10,000 cubic yards of debris just Tuesday, Johnson said.
FEMA says aid is flowing freely into CSRA after Helene
President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration in Georgia and ordered federal aid for individuals to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
The trucks are starting in the hardest hit areas and will make up to three es on every street in the city.
Be sure to stack your debris on the right-of-way next to the street but not in the street. And don’t burn it, Fire Chief Antonio Burden said.
Although things are looking better, “our ability to recover is still some ways off,” Johnson said.
“There’s still some trees down. ... There’s still going to be a lot of cleanup,” he said.
Still, the outlook is a lot nicer than in those chaotic days nearly two weeks ago.
“Augusta is a really large community, but being able to see the subdivisions, puts things in perspective, and it really does stimulate the gratitude,” said Wills.
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