Governor Brian Kemp visits the CSRA’s rural areas post-Helene

LOUISVILLE, Ga. (WJBF) – Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp visited rural areas impacted by Helene on Wednesday.

More than 92 percent of Jefferson County was without power once Helene hit less than one week ago. Still, those living here are feeling all of the impacts since the storm’s departure.

“It seems like I’m starving, really…” Gussie Martin Jordan said.

But Gussie Martin Jordan says, that’s not all.

“I can’t take a– I’ve been putting water on the Fish cooker, heating it up to take a bath. Last night I had to take a cold bath, no gas, no nothing to eat…”

Governor Kemp visited a total of five of the CSRA’s rural counties– including Johnson, Washington, Glascock and McDuffie.

“Really visiting some of the most rural and hard-hit communities across the state, and I’ve been telling everybody nobody got spared in this storm,” Governor Kemp said. “People in Georgia didn’t get spared, people in Florida didn’t, people through South Carolina– certainly in North Carolina, Alabama and into Tennessee.”

The Governor, along with local officials like Emergency Management Director Jim Anderson, spoke about some of the major needs in the area.

“It will be months until we get some sense of normalcy, but the people need water,” Anderson said. “I’ve seen requests for baby formula, we’re starting to make those– your basic daily needs that most people will have two or three days of items in their household. But now stores can’t open, banks and ATMs aren’t working cause lack of power, some people don’t have cash. So, it sort of just back to the basics of trying to survive.”

And those living in Jefferson County are still hoping for a better tomorrow.

“We just got our hands up to Jesus, that’s all we can do,” Martin said.

Officials do want to remind you that your safety is number one, and they are working tirelessly to get main resources like power and water back up and running for you as quickly as they can.

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