Obama announces federal emergency aid for Georgia counties (Update)
September 24, 2009 at 1:48 pm by Thomas Wheatley in News
President Barack Obama today said federal assistance has been made available for Cobb, Paulding, Douglas Carroll and Cherokee County residents who suffered losses from the unprecedented floods that devastated metro Atlanta earlier this week. (UPDATE: Apparently there was some confusion about which counties were chosen to receive assistance. The AJC’s Gold Dome Live has a pretty hilarious summary of the “huh, what?”)
Left out of Obama’s declaration were 12 other metro countries, including DeKalb and Fulton County. Gov. Sonny Perdue says the state’s request for the remaining counties is still pending.
From Perdue’s office:
The federal declaration covers individual assistance and can include grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses. Low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration will also be available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance.
…
Residents and business owners in the four counties declared by the President as a major disaster area who sustained losses can begin applying for assistance by registering online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (local time) Monday through Sunday.
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency continues to coordinate state recovery efforts. Contact information for GEMA can be found on its website.
(File photo by Joeff Davis)
September 24th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
So Obama got it wrong and GA got it right and the confusion from this makes GA look bad and not the White House. How does that work in this new world????
September 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am
In fairness, how can you expect a guy from Kenya to remember the names of all 159 counties in Georgia?
September 25th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I bet he can name all 57 states.
September 25th, 2009 at 10:51 am
dalec is as relevant as ever…
September 25th, 2009 at 11:04 am
and you as knee jerk