Augusta, GA
FEMA gives CSRA more time to clean up Helene debris
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has given Augusta and other communities in Georgia and South Carolina 30 more days to clean up Helene debris and still get reimbursed 100% for the costs.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson announced Wednesday that the 100% reimbursement period for Hurricane Helene has been extended to 120 days.
Documents from FEMA showed the deadline was extended in both Georgia and South Carolina.
Previously, communities had a 90-day deadline to clean up the debris and get fully reimbursed for the costs.
The extension is crucial in Augusta, because with only a couple of weeks left under the original deadline, contractors haven’t even finished their first pass through the city.
Residents were asked to pile hurricane debris along the roadsides, and crews plan to make at least two and possibly three passes along every street in the city to pick up the debris.
On Tuesday night, Johnson updated the community at a town hall meeting on cleanup efforts in Richmond County.
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The extension comes even as FEMA Director Deanne Criswell testified last month to senators that the money available to help communities like Augusta has shrunk after back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.
She said the country’s emergency checkbook is down to less than $5 billion.
She and Sen. Jon Ossoff for an infusion of money during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
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