AUGUSTA, Ga. () – There’s still storm damage for Augusta to pick up and now for the city, the cost is going up.
“Augusta didn’t budge, neither didn’t any other community based on the sheer devastation from Hurricane Helene. The 120 days 100 percent reimbursement has ended,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.

The city knew that this week, FEMA would no longer pay 100 percent of the cleanup cost, so as the effort continues, there’s a new reimbursement formula were the feds now will pay only 75 percent.
“Part of that 25 percent will be reimbursed by the state as well. We’re probably around 12 and a half or 15 percent right now that will come out of the city’s coffers,” said Steve Cassell, Augusta Debris Manager.
While FEMA still pays the lion’s share and there’s state help, the city is now facing paying 15 cents on the dollar for this massive cleanup operation.

“What’s the price per day?”  

“At the height, we were about a half a million dollars a day back then. We’re probably about $300,000 a day,” said Cassell.
The potential for millions of dollars in cleanup costs has the city pushing efforts to keep the 100 percent reimbursement in place.
“We’re hopeful that both our senators in the state of Georgia as well as the governor has an additional 30-day extension. We’re waiting word on that but nevertheless were working to cleanup our community,” said Mayor Johnson.
The city is still trying to complete cleanup after Helene, while hoping the feds continue to cover the costs.