VALDOSTA – United States Senators Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock addressed federal relief and heard from local officials about rebuilding efforts as they toured the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia in Valdosta-Lowndes County Sunday afternoon.

Ossoff and Warnock’s tour began at the Second Harvest Food Bank, located at 1411 Harbin Circle in Valdosta. The senators heard from the South Georgia location’s Chief Executive Frank Richards about the staff’s efforts through Hurricane Idalia.

The location has provided more than 10,000 meals in three days, 84,000 waters and 30,000 tarps to local community members through partner organizations in need.

“As an organization at Second Harvest, we’re really concentrating on the long-term recovery of the needs for our community. In the coming weeks, a lot of things will go away, but our families will still be here feeling the financial impact,” Richards said.

Sen. Warnock told local officials that the community was in his prayers, and he acknowledged the importance of viewing the hurricane’s impact firsthand. He also announced that both he and Ossoff had contacted the White House regarding federal relief. That contact Warnock referred to was a joint letter addressed to President Joe Biden written on Wednesday, Aug. 31st.

The letter reads, “According to state and Federal officials, as well as local reports, the damage in many Georgia communities, including Valdosta, Georgia in Lowndes County among other areas, is of such severity and magnitude that effective response may be beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.”

“Based on the severity of the damage to many southern Georgia communities, and the extensive need in affected areas, if the Governor of Georgia requests federal assistance we encourage your team to move quickly to support Georgians impacted by this deadly storm,” it concluded.

The senators continued their tour of the town and later stopped at the Red Cross Resource Site, located at the Valdosta Cinema Parking Lot on 1680 Baytree Road. At the site, the senators spoke with volunteers and local residents about the impact.

“We were struck by the amount of damage done to this community. In the midst of this devastation one of the things that was inspiring is we saw neighbors banding together,” Warnock said.

Ossoff agreed, stating, “We’re here with you and for you through the long haul.”

Valdosta City Mayor Scott James Matheson took the center of the initial briefing. “In our darkest hour there, it was our first hurricane in 166 years that has reached our city,” he said.

The hurricane reached speeds of nearly 70 miles per hour and wiped thousands of residents’ services from power, to wifi and cell phone signals. Hundreds of trees were pushed to the limit leaving multiple roads blocked and homes destroyed. Five days after the storm tunneled through Valdosta-Lowndes County work crews are still working to repair multiple road intersections.

“We were ready for the preparation but not for the devastation,” Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter said. “It’s extremely important that the declaration moves forward. It’s going to be able to help those folks who are either uninsured or underinsured. That’s really, really important for this community.”

He said almost 97% of the residents and businesses were without electric power. That number has decreased to between 20% to 10% five days after the storm made landfall.

The senators also heard from officials representing Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, South Georgia Medical Center, Greater Valdosta United Way, the Salvation Army Valdosta Corps and Lowndes Associated Ministries to People Inc. (LAMP) Homeless Shelter.

Christine Moore, the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, told the senators that the business market took a major hit from the devastation. She introduced the senators to Nicholas “Nick” Perry, the general manager and owner of Ella’s Top Corral. The restaurant has been within the community for over 40 years and had a complete remodel project in 2018, but it received extensive damage from the storm.

“The most devastating part was [on] Wednesday, walking into the restaurant and seeing my grandmother standing in the middle and just bawling her eyes out. She’s standing there looking at everything we’ve worked for and everything we’ve done, just kind of gone,” he said in an interview after the briefing.

When asked what are the plans to address employment loss following the storm Moore said, “We have actually already worked with the Department of Labor in Georgia and as soon as that federal disaster declaration comes down … once we get that the Department of Labor will be able to do an extended unemployment.”