Debris collection site for residents continues until Friday
Rabun County residents were met with widespread power and communication outages from downed power lines, fallen trees, significant levels of rainfall and even severe damage to property in some areas as the weather that came with Hurricane Helene hurdled through the community.
The Germany Valley National Weather Service Cooperative Observation Station in Rabun County recorded 11.43 inches of rain in the time period from Wednesday, Sept. 25, to Sunday, Sept. 29.
States of emergencies on the local, state and national levels were administered during the storm as well.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an Executive Order Extending the State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene which expired on Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Helene began as a hurricane on the coast of Florida but had weakened to a tropical storm as it passed through the local area.
The storm traveled through Rabun County beginning Sept. 25 and the aftermath continued into last week.
The cleanup efforts continue into this week as well.
Rabun County announced it opened a debris drop-off area at the Rabun County Arena, 100 east Boggs Mountain Road, Tiger, according to a press release from the Rabun County Office of Emergency Management.
The location opened for debris drop-off on Monday and will be open through Friday, Oct. 11, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Users are asked to enter the drop-off area from the Longview Road entrance of the arena and go up the hill to the parking lot on the right.
“This area will only take green leafed vegetation and wood. No root balls or stumps will be accepted. No construction, building or roofing materials will be accepted,” according to the press release.
Upon arrival, participants are asked to provide the staff on-site with their contact information, including name, address, and telephone number prior to unloading the debris.
“If you have damage to your residence from Tropical Storm Helene, please be in contact with your insurance company in regards to the damage and clean-up efforts,” according to the press release.
Send an email with your name, address, and telephone number and any pictures to stormdamage@rabuncounty.ga.gov so this information can be collected and given to GEMA and FEMA for documentation and for the possibility of Individual Assistance, if a county-wide threshold of damage is met.
As of press time, residents in Rabun County were still dealing with the damage the storm caused and some remained without communication services at their residences.
Major disaster declared
On Friday, Oct. 4, Gov. Brian Kemp announced that four additional Georgia counties affected by Hurricane Helene are now eligible for disaster assistance.
The declaration covers Rabun County for Individual Assistance.
Elbert County was declared for Individual Assistance as well. South Georgia’s Effingham and Tift counties are eligible for Individual and Public Assistance.
“Individual Assistance can fund individual and family recovery efforts, which may include grants or temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of Hurricane Helene,” according to a press release from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
The deadline for applications is Dec. 2 and counties can apply for assistance by going online at https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or calling 1-800-621-3362. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY may call 800-462-7585.
For more information on the Major Disaster Declaration or Public Assistance, email PublicAssistance@gema.ga.gov and for individual assistance email IndividualAssistance@gema.ga.gov
Community works together
Rabun County officials worked together in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to recover and rebuild after the storm caused significant damage across all areas of Rabun County.
“We are proud of the dedication to the community that our deputies displayed throughout the storm. A number of deputies came into work early and stayed late to assist anyway they could,” said Lt. Mark Gerrells, II, office of professional standards and training at the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office, about efforts the sheriff’s office took to help the community.
“We would also like to thank all of the first responders that assisted during this storm. Rabun County is blessed to have these courageous men and women who put their own safety at risk to serve the community in a time of need,” Gerrells said.
Many businesses, individuals, churches and organizations in Rabun County organized food distributions for anyone in need as the power outages and food shortages caused many residents to be without needed resources.
The Rotary Club of Clayton has partnered with the Rotary Clubs of Highlands, N.C., and Franklin, N.C., as well as the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, to distribute food and supplies to those in need in Rabun County as well as affected areas in North Carolina.
Thanks to Persimmon Baptist Church and Rabun County Station 1, donations of supplies for hurricane victims were collected last week. The items were delivered to Black Mountain, N.C., to be distributed by the Cajun Navy.
The donations collected in Rabun County were distributed to many affected areas of North Carolina, including Mitchell County, N.C.
The county was completely devastated by the hurricane, which caused several inches of flooding and destroyed downtown Spruce Pine, N.C., as well as the Grassy Creek, N.C., community and other parts of Mitchell County, N.C. Last week, the entire county remained without water and most remained without power.
See page A11 for an in-depth article on how Hurricane Helene affected the the North Carolina community.
The Mitchell News-Journal located in Mitchell County, N.C., is a sister-paper owned by Community Newspapers, Inc., which owns The Clayton Tribune.
The Cajun Navy Relief, Inc. is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission of neighbors helping neighbors.
“The mission of Cajun Navy Relief is to save lives. We are a group of volunteers who work tirelessly without pay to provide immediate rescue and relief during natural disasters. Rescue and relief are our way of sharing the South Louisiana cultural tradition of neighbors helping neighbors with people in need across the United States. By integrating civilian volunteers into the Incident Command Structure we can act as a force multiplier for agencies responding to disasters,” according to the organization’s website.
Rev. Avery Lawrence, the pastor at Persimmon Baptist Church, told The Clayton Tribune the church always tries to do anything it can when it comes to helping the community, children, or all of the above.
Lawrence is also the assistant principal at Rabun County Primary School.
Lawrence said his wife, Nawana Lawrence, had it on her heart to help those in need following the hurricane.
“She had a deep conviction,” Lawrence said about how his wife felt God was calling her to make a difference in the community.
And that difference was made in a significant way as the collection turned into more than one U-Haul full of supplies.
“God orchestrated it,” Lawrence said of how the community came together to help others. “This is all a God thing.”
Lawrence said all glory goes to God and that with a blessing “God spared us the worst” here in Rabun County so it’s important to help others.
Visit https://www.cajunnavyrelief.com/ for more information on Cajun Navy Relief.