Hurricane Helene devastated coastal and inland towns, forcing evacuations and leaving communities reeling in its aftermath. As the winds subsided, the storm left widespread damage, including downed power lines, loss of cell service, fallen trees, spoiled food, blocked roads, and no running water. Despite the destruction, the southern community remained strong. Neighbors banded together, distributing home-cooked meals, cleaning up debris, giving out generators, delivering water to residents and nursing homes, and ensuring safe living conditions by having more nurses on call to aid all of the patients.

One of the most urgent tasks was addressing fallen power lines to prevent accidents. Satilla REMC (Rural Electric Membership Cooperative), which serves over 58,000 members, reported almost 100% of its customers without power. However, help from REMCs and power companies from other states, including Alabama Power, has reduced the outages to 57%. Alabama Power, owned by the Southern Company, was one of the many utilities involved in restoring service. Southern Company also owns subsidiaries like Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, and Atlanta Gas Light.

Alabama Power and other REMC agencies from other counties and states’ work vehicles were stationed at Telfair County Elementary School as part of the recovery efforts.

A local resident, who asked to stay anonymous, shared her story: “It was stressful because you didn’t know how bad everything was going to be, and it was terrifying to see the damage it left.”

She added, “I mean, it was just a mess. Getting through the debris to get to my mother. I had to wait 2 and a half days for the roads to be cleared before I could visit her. The local government helped clear the roads very quickly and they are working to restore power but because the power lines are in the trees, it is hard to get to the people in the rural areas. We also put in for FEMA aid but it takes time to receive the funds to replace the food that we lost.”

FEMA and local governments are addressing the hurricane’s impact, with over 200 deaths reported. FEMA has spent $137 million on emergency supplies such as water, generators, and tarps. More than 1.2 million Georgia Power customers lost power, along with millions of rural households, many of whom remain without electricity. In the Altamaha region, driving through involves navigating over power cords and heavily damaged roads as local municipal governments and the Georgian Department of Transportation work to clean it all up.