Helene: Ossoff, Tillis ask for expedited disaster relief

(The Center Square) – Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that Hurricane Helene victims need help now, not next year.

The committee met to consider additional funding for federal agencies to meet the needs of communities affected by the hurricanes that swept through the South.

Ossoff testified with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., about the devastation in their two states.

The University of Georgia estimated that Georgia’s vegetable growers lost 25% to 35% of the fall crop, one and a half million acres of timberland are damaged, and projections show that 500,000 to 600,000 bales of cotton are lost, Ossoff said.

“Colleagues, the numbers are staggering but this isn’t about numbers, it’s about families in rural communities,” Ossoff said. “And without our help the simple fact is that many of these family farms may fold and they may fold soon. If they go under, our rural communities go under.”

Ossoff urged speed in approving additional aid.

“We must refuse the temptation to delay or to get dragged into politics,” Ossoff said. “We must swiftly pass disaster assistance by the end of the year.”

Tillis said thousands of people in western North Carolina remain in harm’s way.

“The mountain folks of my state have spent their entire lives working, paying taxes, and never asking for anything from the federal government, but now it is time for their government to step up and help these people in their time of greatest need,” Tillis said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the committee, said delaying aid is not harmless.

“It carries its own cost, one that families and communities will be forced to bear for years: businesses shuttered, jobs lost, family farms bankrupt, houses overtaken by water damage and mold, communities unable to return, rebuild, and reopen, families forced to abandon the houses and communities they love, because they can’t afford to stay, not to mention: people forced by desperation and necessity to take out predatory and high-interest loans,” Murray said. “Every day we don’t act – the costs grow.”

President Joe Biden requested an additional $98 million in disaster aid in a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The request includes $40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, $23.5 billion for farmers and rural development, $4 billion for water infrastructure and $2.2 billion for Small Business Administration loans, according to previous reports.