LISTEN: The pace of recovery from Hurricane Helene in Georgia is only beginning to match human need in places like Valdosta and, as GPB’s Grant Blankenship reports, in Augusta.



 

Augusta firefighters and other volunteers hand out water and ice Monday morning on the second full day without running water.

Augusta firefighters and other volunteers hand out water and ice on September 30, 2024.

Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The pace of recovery from Hurricane Helene in Georgia is only beginning to match human need in places like Valdosta and Augusta.  

Both cities were hard-hit by the Friday, Sept. 27 storm.

By Monday morning, Augusta was in the second day of having no city water. So firefighters and volunteers handed out bottled water at a handful of spots around the city such as the city offices downtown.  

Most people put the water in their cars. But not Shaday Collins.  

"Yeah, we ain't got no car; so right now we just got to make it," she said.

Collins said she’s grateful for the help. But into Day 4 after Helene, she says she’s struggling, like now, walking 4 miles carrying a 24-bottle package of water on top of her head.   

"We're running out of candles, running out of batteries," she said. "Everybody right now is kind of in survival mode because everything is very limited."

That includes food. A lot of it in her refrigerator has spoiled, she said.

Collins will walk through Tyrone Hill’s neighborhood around East Boundary Street before she makes it home. Hill said things are looking desperate there.

"All the stores down have been looted so there is — it's not even no food in the community," he said.

The Dollar General was emptied. It’s now boarded up. The gas station around the corner was emptied last night, too, but the owner is open again. Still, the gas pumps don’t work.  

State officials say the National Guard is in the city. Hill’s not seen them yet.  

"There ain't no National Guard out," he said. "At least not in my community where I live at."

Help is coming. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency is setting up 13 more food and water distribution sites around Augusta. Their locations will be listed on the GEMA website.

Meanwhile, Georgia Power says it could be Saturday before the power is back in Augusta. Statewide, the utility said Monday approximately 370,000 customers were still without power due to Helene, the most destructive storm in the company's history.

Tags: weather  Storms  Helene  Georgia  Augusta