Water service is restored, most of Richmond County has power and the city has begun spraying for mosquitoes.
These are among the highlights of Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson’s latest press briefing on the city’s Hurricane Helene relief efforts, Monday afternoon, outside the Lee Beard Commission Chambers in the Municipal Building.
“Our water system is fully functional,” said Mayor Johnson in his update. “We have restored water to all those that we can to 100%. It is drinkable. It is safe to use.”
The mayor acknowledged that there are those “still experiencing challenges” with their homes’ running water, saying it’s “not due to anything with the city,” noting a recent incident in which a tree had fallen on one resident’s water main.
Augusta Utilities Director Wes Byne, reiterated that the city’s water reservoirs are now full and aside from “isolated main breaks,” that “100% of [Augusta] water customers that have the ability to get water from our water system is operational.”
The mayor urged citizens still having issues with their water to call the utilities department at 706-842-3060.
The mayor then announced that, as of about 20 minutes before the conference, less than 10% of Augustans are without power. That leaves 9,783 city households left without power, from the approximately 100,000 after the storm hit.
“I know it’s a big number if you’re still one of those 9,000,” Johnson said. “But we’re certainly making improvements minute by minute, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood.”
The citywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. is still in effect, he said, as some traffic signals are still down.
Johnson then observed that FEMA is still on the ground in Augusta—later noting that the city is still under a state of emergency. He advised those with questions regarding disaster assistance contact the agency either by calling 1-800-621-3362, for which wait times of up to three minutes may be expected, or by visiting www.DisasterAssistance.gov.
Fire Chief Antonio Burden told the public during the press briefing that some of the city’s points of distribution (POD) of water and supplies would be shutting down. The POD at the old railroad depot on Reyolds Street would be closed by the end of the day, the one at Diamond Lakes is also scheduled to close. The distribution center at Southgate Plaza, however, would continue to operate, opening Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., Burden said.
The fire chief also said the shelter at the May Park Recreation Center would be closing Monday, but that the shelter at Henry Brigham Community Center would remain open.
Steve Cassel of contractor ISM said that some 15 trucks are—as of the time of the briefing—dispatched to clean hurricane debris. Workers had cleaned up about 20 loads of debris the previous night, Cassel said, at about 130 cubic yards per load, and having been working the hardest hit areas—such as along Walton Way.
“We’ve got some trucks south of Gordon Highway, as well and those will start moving, radiating out from those points to get to the rest of the county,” said Cassell, saying that it might be three weeks before all the tree cleanup becomes noticeable.
Augusta has 90 days to clean up tree debris in order to be eligible for reimbursement from FEMA, but Cassell said he expects that will be enough time.
City Administrator Tameka Allen said that the city offices will be officially open at normal business hours starting Tuesday morning, though the south Augusta tag office and public utility billing office will both be closed until further notice.
Allen also noted that the Augusta Commission will vote, Tuesday, on extending the deadline to take advantage of the 1% tax discount, which was on Oct. 8.
The local government began treating Richmond County for mosquitoes Monday, as well, the mayor said, as “the breeding ground for mosquitoes has been exacerbated by this hurricane.” He went on to ask residents to be patient as the city government does not currently have enough trucks from the Department of Public Health to undertake treatment efforts countywide.
“As a government, we’re going to try to reach out with some other entities that may be able to help us,” said Johnson. “So hang tight.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
