Georgia Resilience

Friends,

In recent days, Hurricane Idalia passed through our corner of Georgia, after initially coming ashore near Cedar Key, Florida.

Entering Georgia with hurricane force winds, the storm impacted communities including Valdosta and Waycross before reaching Savannah as well as the communities of District 159.  While the winds had slowed when the storm reached our area — flooding, power outages, and other impacts still affected our communities. 

While tragically one Georgian was killed by a falling tree in Lowndes County, the great work of our local and state law enforcement and emergency responders kept Georgia communities safe as the storm passed through. 

Now, the recovery begins. 

State and local transportation and public works crews have been clearing, repairing, and reopening our roadways. 

Electric providers including Georgia Power and Planters, and all the affected electric cooperatives have been restoring power to affected communities. 

Telephone and cable providers have been restoring service outages as well.

And Georgians have begun the process of working with their neighbors to clean up after the storm.  

You and I know that Georgians are a resilient bunch. We’ll clean up and restore our communities in short order. 

But we’ll also assist our neighbors who suffered damage. We’ll volunteer. We’ll donate. We’ll enlist volunteers through schools, church youth groups, and community organizations.  And we’ll ensure that those affected by this storm in Georgia, as well as in our neighboring states of Florida and South Carolina get back on their feet.  

As our communities rebuild, trust that private and public

resources will be there to assist as well.  The Georgia Emergency Management Agency is currently operating a crisis cleanup hotline that can be reached at 800-451-1954 and will assist affected Georgians in accessing community resources that can provide assistance.  

I expect other resources to continue to become available in the coming days and weeks.  That said, I know that sometimes the process of navigating the federal, state, and local benefits that may be available to those affected by a natural disaster can be complicated.  

Should you need guidance in navigating the process to receive any aid or assistance available to you as we all recover from Idalia’s impacts, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with your questions.  You can contact me at 404.656.5020, Jon.Burns@house.ga.gov, or on Facebook at www.FB.com/JonBurnsGA.  If you wish to sign up for my weekly emailed newsletter, visit https://www.friendsofjonburns.com/home to sign up.