Have damage from Hurricane Michael? More Georgia counties added to FEMA disaster list

More Georgians living in central, southwest and southern counties of the state are now eligible for Hurricane Michael assistance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency added seven counties Thursday to its list for individual disaster assistance: Laurens, Calhoun, Clay, Randolph, Sumter, Tift and Turner.

Southwest Georgia and southern counties of Middle Georgia were hard hit by the powerful storm that hit the Gulf coast Oct. 10-11.

“We had a tremendous amount of tree damage and power lines down,” Laurens County Emergency Management Agency Director Don Bryant said.

Several houses were damaged and some virtually destroyed by falling trees, Bryant said.

“I guess we were very fortunate,” Bryant said. “We didn’t really have any serious injuries.”

Federal relief money now will be available in those counties for temporary housing, home repairs, damage to essential household items, disaster-related childcare, medical costs and essential vehicle expenses, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop.

“As the recovery process moves forward, the full scope of damage to the region is becoming more and more apparent,” Bishop stated in the release. “This amendment to the major disaster declaration will ensure additional communities receive the help they need to rebuild.”

Individual assistance now is available for 20 Georgia counties including: Baker, Crisp, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Terrell, Thomas, Seminole and Worth.

Additional designations may be forthcoming, but some counties did not have enough damage per capita to qualify for federal aid in spite of isolated reports.

For more information about FEMA assistance, go to www.disasterassistance.gov.

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 6:46 AM.