Posted on December 2, 2024
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene unexpectedly wreaked havoc on parts of The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District’s area of responsibility, leaving behind a magnitude of debris, resulting in the Federal Emergency Management Agency tasking the District with a debris removal mission for 10 Georgia counties.
Experts of various backgrounds from across the USACE enterprise deployed to Georgia and began supporting the debris mission. After the damage was assessed, the first order of business was to award the contracts for the 10 counties. Those counties are: Montgomery, Lowndes, Ben Hill, Dodge, Laurens, Candler, McIntosh, Brooks, Screven, and Jenkins counties.
The mission is a huge undertaking, requiring the removal of nearly 2 million cubic yards of debris, which is equivalent to 620 football fields. To date, more than 302,180 cubic yards of debris has been removed from some of the counties.
“There is a lot of debris sitting on the ground,” said Jenkins County Administrator Grady Saxon, whose county has 20 thousand cubic yards of debris to be removed. “We are anxious to get it cleared up.”
Pamela Fischer, USACE realty specialist from Sacramento District, has a significant role in the debris removal process. She is responsible for getting the county Right of Entry forms signed, which gives the USACE permission to access and use the property as a debris collection site.
“Everybody is anxious to get things moving,” said Fischer.
Each day more than 110 crews are on the ground, supported by 112 USACE quality assurance specialists who provide oversight and ensure safe and efficient debris removal. The first hauls were in Ben Hill and Laurens counties on Nov.6, with mission completion estimated for Spring 2025.
The USACE team of experts is just one piece of the larger DoD team working to support other federal, state and local partners to clean up the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
