Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) criticized the Biden-Harris administration over the way it has handled the response to Hurricane Helene — namely, the fact that the administration did not do enough in its original emergency disaster declaration.
“When the first emergency declarations came down, there was only 11 counties in that,” Kemp said, according to WRDW/WAGT.
“A lot of people were outraged, including me, because there was such devastation and, you know, up to 90 counties. So, we called the White House. We spoke to the president’s chief of staff, the FEMA administrator and said, look, you’re sending the signal that you’re not paying attention to some of these rural communities,” he continued.
Kemp said the White House added 30 more counties after that phone call.
“I absolutely think we will have a lot more counties added. We’re at 41 right now and I could see it going anywhere from 70 to 90,” Kemp said.
According to reports, at least 204 people have been confirmed dead in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the southeast.
Former President Donald Trump visited one of the impacted areas this week alongside Christian evangelist Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse.
“We came down with truckloads of things, and we’re going to have that done by Franklin’s incredible organization. They’ve done such a good job,” Trump said during a visit to Valdosta, Georgia.
“We’ve done this before, but we have a lot of truckloads of different items — from oil to water to all sorts of equipment that’s going to help them,” Trump continued, making it clear that they “stand in complete solidarity with the people of Georgia and with all of those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene.”
Trump is also expected to appear alongside Kemp on Friday.
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Donald J Trump“Valdosta has been ravaged. The town is very, very badly hurting, and many thousands are without power. They’re running low on food and fuel. We brought a lot of it down with us. It’s going to be distributed now or soon, throughout Georgia as well as North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee,” Trump added.
Kemp’s criticism also comes as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayjorkas admits that FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the remainder of hurricane season. All the while, $640 million has been allotted to DHS specifically for issues related to illegal immigrants.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds — FEMA does not have the funds — to make it through the season,” Mayorkas revealed.
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