State and local officials provide update on recovery efforts in Adel, Cook Co.

ADEL, Ga. – Cook county leadership is providing an update as they continue their recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene.

Cook County EMA Director Johnny West gave us an update on where the county stood with restoring power.

“Right now, we’re showing about 60% of the county, between 55 and 60% of the county is back on. And, so, it’s going to be a slow process through the remainder of this because the infrastructure is going to have to be completely rebuilt through those areas that are still hit,” said Johnny West, EMA Director, Cook Co.

Congressman Austin Scott, whose been surveying the damage across the district has been trying to do what he can to help.

And, unfortunately, due to the worsening conditions in states such as North Carolina, getting crews into South Georgia hasn’t been easy.

“This storm has impacted about 10% of the population in the United States. So, crews that would normally be coming in from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to help us, they’re having to take care of their own places up there. And, we’ve got we’ve got search and rescue crews coming all the way from California into North Carolina to actually help up there,” said Rep. Austin Scott, 8th Congressional District, Ga. (R).

One thing is clear though: the damage is going to take a long time to rebound from

“East of I-75, this is kind of a Michael number two. All commodities, all industries have been impacted by this storm. It’s really going to take a long time to recover from that. I’d say every industry and every commodity in terms of crops has been impacted,” said Chas Cannon, Cook Co. Representative.

While plenty of progress has been made, it’s unfortunately still going to be a long road to complete recovery.

Brian Roche reporting.

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