RICHMOND HILL, Ga. () — The Trump administration denied Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s request to extend the deadline for Hurricane Helene victims to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Friday.

However, hurricane victims in coastal Georgia, one of the areas hit hardest by Helene, haven’t all necessarily rebuilt and moved on.

“They sent a field person here, but the people making those decisions are the ones that need to be here and see,” Barry Doepp, a victim of hurricanes Debby and Helene, said.

In response to Kemp’s request, a senior official with the Trump administration said, “It has been determined that the increased level of funding you have requested for major disaster fema-4830-dr is not warranted.”

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) responded to the Trump administration’s denial this week, calling it wrong, and urging the president to reconsider.

“Trump’s taken over, and I like Trump,” Doepp said. “I voted for him. He’s done a lot of good things since he’s taken office in a short period of time, but that’s probably one that I would question about them not extending.”

While he has received money from FEMA, Doepp said the process was difficult.

“It took time because of the fact I’m not internet savvy,” Doepp said. “I would use my phone sometimes because my main computer was down, and I would go to the Richmond Hill library sometimes.”

Advocates agreed the process can be challenging.

“That rebuild looks different for everyone,” Katrina Bostick, Director of Family Promise of the Coastal Empire, said. “So, for families that do not have a lot of resources, or there could be a tech gap or things of that nature where they don’t have access to complete those applications. Not having that extension could be extremely impactful to how they make their households whole again.”

Moving forward, organizations like Family Promise said they’ll be stepping in to take over some of the relief efforts people can no longer apply to through FEMA.

If you’d like to get in contact with Family Promise, you can find more info here.