Rep. Buddy Carter (R, GA-1) is seeking additional help from President Obama by asking for the expansion of the number of counties included in the Major Disaster Declaration and by adding individual assistance declarations for the counties in Georgia that were most impacted by Hurricane Matthew.
The individual assistance declaration would allow additional services to be offered to citizens, including:
- Individuals and Households Program
- Crisis Counseling Program
- Disaster Case Management
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance
- Disaster Legal Services
- Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
From a press release from Rep. Carter:
Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01) today requested immediate disaster assistance for Georgia in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.
On October 8, 2016, President Barack Obama issued a Major Disaster Declaration for Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh County. Additional declarations and individual assistance has been delayed since that time.
Today, Carter asked President Obama to immediately expand the disaster declaration to additional Georgia counties and to include individual assistance declarations for those counties hit hardest by Hurricane Matthew.
In a letter to the President, Carter wrote, “Having personally visited much of the affected area, I can attest that this storm brought significant damage warranting additional federal assistance far beyond the six counties currently included. While joint Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency teams are working diligently to conduct assessments, it has been 10 days since the storm hit and these communities simply cannot afford to wait any longer. Damage from Hurricane Matthew was not limited by county lines and the current six county designation is woefully inadequate. I urge your Administration to expand Public Assistance to all of the 30 counties contained in Governor Nathan Deal’s state of emergency declaration.
“In addition, families and businesses in those counties hit hardest by this storm continue to wait for Individual Assistance declaration. Beyond denying these families much-needed assistance programs in their time of need, the delay is preventing businesses and individuals from receiving tax relief and deadline extensions from the Internal Revenue Service. Such uncertainty impedes the ability of my constituents to recover from this devastating storm. I urge you to expand Individual Assistance to affected Georgia counties.”
A copy of the full letter can be seen HERE.