FEMA continues to offer door-to-door aid for Helene victims
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Since Hurricane Helene, FEMA officials say they’ve knocked on the doors of 21,000 homes in Richmond County, making sure everybody knows they can apply for federal aid.
Friday was another one of those days where agents made their way out ahead of a January 7 deadline to apply for aid.
FEMA has approved more than 190,000 applications for Georgia residents, providing more than $251 million.
In South Carolina, FEMA has approved more than 315,000 applications, providing more than $234 million.
FEMA representatives are going door-to-door, up and down streets, visiting thousands of homes.
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“My team has been here since right before the hurricane hit, and as of now, we’ve probably been to over 20,000 homes,” said Rahel Gebregiorgis, disaster survivor assistance crew lead.
They’re making sure everyone gets the help they need.
“We had this 83-year-old woman, she had no , and when we knocked on her door she was like, what’s FEMA? We explained the process and she was like, ‘Yeah, I have this tarp, but I don’t have any help,” said Gebregiorgis.
FEMA says they know not everyone can make it out to them, which is why they show up at your door.
“We are able to survivors at their homes. We also can check their cases, just to let people know what we’re waiting on. A lot of people kind of get these letters from FEMA and they just read the first line and then don’t know what to do next,” said Gebregiorgis.
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And when certain barriers are presented, Gebregiorgis says, “We have Spanish speakers and then we also have language lines that can assist us. I called someone on our crew to translate for me and she’s in a different neighborhood, but on the same work in the same county.”
FEMA says they understand many people in our area may have never experienced a disaster like this.
Nikki Gaskins Campbell, FEMA media relations specialist, said: “For this area, it is very unusual for something like this to happen, so we know there are a lot of questions.”
FEMA says they will be in the two-state area for as long as they are needed.
They also want to make sure you for assistance before that January 7 deadline.
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