Deal: White House approves seven additional counties for federal individual assistance
Gov. Nathan Deal received notice from the White House that an additional seven counties have been approved for federal individual assistance following Hurricane Michael. A total of 13 counties have now been approved for individual assistance by President Donald Trump.
Individual assistance makes federal funding available to individuals and households, including grants for 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 the hurricane. The following counties were approved for individual assistance Tuesday evening: Crisp, Grady, Lee, Mitchell, Terrell, Thomas and Worth.
“I appreciate President Trump’s quick approval of our requests for federal assistance in the Georgia communities most heavily affected by Hurricane Michael,” said Deal. “Our partners at the federal level, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are working diligently alongside state and local officials to help our communities recover as quickly as possible. I appreciate both President Trump and Vice President Pence visiting Georgia this week to show their support and reiterate the federal government’s commitment to Georgia’s citizens during the response and recovery process. I’m also proud of the brave efforts of Georgia’s first responders, emergency management officials, law enforcement officers, medical professionals, recovery teams and others who are providing much-needed aid to residents of the impacted areas.”
Baker, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Miller and Seminole counties were previously approved for individual assistance. Additionally, 31 counties were already approved for public assistance, which assists with emergency work and debris removal. A list of the counties approved for public assistance is available here.
FEMA and the Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency are continuing to conduct individual assistance assessments, and the president may add additional counties for designation based upon the assessments.