Berrien Co. Chamber of Commerce, City of Nashville provides updates, urges safety during recovery from Helene

NASHVILLE, Ga. – Hurricane Helene has significantly impacted businesses and residents throughout Berrien county, Nashville, Georgia.

The storm caused extensive damage, uprooting numerous trees that blocked roads and hindered travel.

Many establishments, homes, and vehicles sustained severe damage, with roofs ripped off and structures compromised by the hurricane’s powerful force.

“We have been trying to get home for a couple of hours. We spent the night at my parents house, in Adel, thinking the storm would be bad. And, it is bad. It was bad. And, we been trying to get to Berrien county for about 2 hours now. Every road, we come up and down has got trees everywhere,” said Allen Pierce, Nashville, GA resident.

According to Power Outage.US, 9,596 out of 10,861 tracked residents are currently without power following Hurricane Helene.

Lisa Smart, a volunteer and distribution director, addressed the situation, offering guidance to residents heavily impacted by the storm on the necessary steps to take amid the aftermath.

“Before you even move debris or take anything off of your home, we’re just asking you to take photographs of that. Insurance will need that. What we are reporting to GEMA and FEMA will need that. Report to your insurance what has happened to your business or to your home,” said Lisa Smart, Volunteer & Distribution Director, Berrien County Chamber of Commerce.

The Berrien County Chamber of Commerce is working diligently to keep residents informed and updated in the aftermath of the storm.

“We’re doing Facebook live twice a day, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the Berrien County Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. So, we’ll be bringing in information as it becomes available to us, to our citizens. So we’ll be updating electricity, we’ll be updating resources and anything else that we have,” said Smart.

In efforts to provide relief to residents, GEMA, along with other organizations are distributing essential supplies to those in need.

“We do have supplies available to our citizens right now. We have ice, water, MRES and tarps that have come in from GEMA. We’re distributing those from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. this week out at our elementary school. They just need to come through that drive and they can pick those up. We’re also getting them out to the other cities, Alapaha, Enigma and Ray City, so that they can distribute those to their citizens as well,” said Smart.

For more information on available resources, residents can contact the Berrien Emergency Operations Center at 229-520-5900 for non-emergency inquiries. Additionally, residents are encouraged to follow the Berrien Georgia Emergency Management and the chamber of commerce for ongoing updates.

President Biden has granted a major disaster declaration to release federal funds to help people living in Georgia recover from Hurricane Helene.

For a full list of counties who are receiving assistance, you can visit our website cbs44tv.com.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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