Aiken County faces ‘monumental’ storm recovery, Graham says
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NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham came to North Augusta on Thursday to get a briefing on Hurricane Helene and offer some remarks of his own.
He’s the latest of a line of politicians coming to the CSRA since the hurricane hit on Friday. Some of the highest-profile ones are GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday.
“Vice President Harris was in Augusta. Was it yesterday? So you’re not being forgotten about,” Graham said. “I’m here. The governor’s been here. I think the extent of the damage, I think the fact you’ve been hit harder than anybody else and the recovery task in Aiken County seems to be monumental.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
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Less than two months after flooding from Tropical Storm Debby and eight months after being pummeled by a Category EF-2 tornado, Bamberg County finds itself in survival and recovery mode again in the wake of last week’s Hurricane Helene.
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He said he wants to see the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Aiken County helping the suffering residents.
“FEMA will be here before the sun rises tomorrow,” he promised. “They’re the ones that know the system, and they’ve done a good job. They need to come here.”
He said he’s going to reach out and make it happen.
“People are literally on their last leg,” he said.
He also said there seems to be a “blockage” in getting Red Cross assistance in Aiken County. He says he’s going to point out that problem and insist that it get fixed.
He commented on the enormous toll the storm has taken on South Carolina’s electrical grid.
He also said he wants to see some solutions in the future to avoiding situations like that — like burying power lines.
“Well, what if they were underground – I think they’d be working,” he said. ’I know it costs more up front, I’m sure it’s very expensive. But I think we’ll get our money back. I think there are people who’d be alive today. What’s that worth? That’s worth a lot to me.”
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