VALDOSTA — Lowndes County officials held a press conference Tuesday to give an update about the Federal Emergency Management Agency declaration. The press conference covered the status of FEMA’s involvement as well as ongoing recovery efforts and available resources for residents and businesses affected by Hurricane Helene.

“We have transitioned from the emergency response phase to the recovery phase, but we still have a long road ahead to restore our community,” said Ashley Tye, Emergency Management Director of Lowndes County. “Helene caused damage on a scale we have never seen before.”

“I want to assure all the residents of Lowndes County that the leaders, first responders, utility workers, and hundreds of volunteers all over the country are working hard to secure as many resources as possible to help provide for the basic needs of our community,” said Tye.

Tye said that they have four points of distribution currently operating that have been up since Saturday morning, and are working on opening an additional distribution point within the next 48 hours to increase capacity. He said that volunteers will also be setting up various feeding sites across the community, including mobile feeding sites for those who cannot get to a site on their own.

There is going to be a major food distribution Wednesday morning at the new Valdosta High School starting at 6 a.m. There will also be lunch and dinner provided by the Catfish Army at Unity Park on Thursday and Friday.

Tye said they had a very encouraging and positive meeting with a FEMA administrator earlier in the week about receiving assistance.

“I am pleased to announce we were informed today that the president authorized FEMA to issue a major disaster declaration for several counties in Georgia, including Lowndes County,” he said.

He said the declaration will provide assistance to those in immediate need of food and temporary housing, and encourages anyone affected by Helene to go ahead and register with FEMA now. The only way to register with FEMA is online or by phone for now. Tye said FEMA will be sending outreach teams to help assist residents get registered and will soon have a fiscal office set up to further assist with registration.

To register online with FEMA by going to www.disasterassistance.gov or if you do not have access to the internet you can call 1-800-621-3362 to register by phone.

Tye encouraged those to follow EMA Lowndes on Facebook where they are posting constant updates.