A Federal Emergency Disaster Assistance Team is stationed at the Albany Civic Center, meeting directly with residents effected by Hurricane Michael. The county’s State of Emergency has been extended until October 26, 2018, as emergency crews continue to offer aid, clear roadways, remove storm debris and rebuild infrastructure. With extended power outages, there are several agencies offering help for people in need of food.

Citizens can use the public information access number 2-1-1 to get direct help with food and a complete list of available resources in the area.

A new resident guide is available for storm debris removal (please see attached guide). The guide lists important facts as crews continue to pick up tons of storm debris, including how to separate trash and where to place the material.

“Cleaning up storm debris is a giant undertaking, and will require everyone’s assistance,” said Michael McCoy, Dougherty County’s Administrator. “We are asking the public to please review this guide carefully in order to complete the clean-up process as efficiently as possible.”

The county-wide curfew that has been in place since Thursday, October 11, 2018 was lifted Thursday, October 18, 2018. The curfew was set to expire on Saturday, October 20, 2018.

“Seeing the amount of progress that has been made, emergency officials deemed it safe to lift the curfew,” said Dougherty County Sheriff Kevin Spruill. “There are still many people without power and a livable home right now. Our law enforcement agencies and emergency disaster teams are in Dougherty County continuing to make repairs and respond to the enormous needs of our citizens.”

Dougherty County Commission Chairman, Christopher Cohilas, signed an extension to the State of Emergency in Dougherty County expiring at 11:59 p.m. October 26, 2018. This allows the community to have access to emergency resources, extends the amount of working hours for first responders and it allows local governments to continue requesting necessary resources from the State of Georgia and from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“Extending the State of Emergency is a critical next step as many citizens still remain without power and people deal with the extensive damage to their homes and livelihoods,” said Chairman Christopher Cohilas. “The combined efforts of our first responders, county and city workers, emergency disaster agencies and community volunteers is a tremendously positive sign that we will recover from this devastating Hurricane. But, we need to keep people safe, and we need a great deal of outside resources. Extending the State of Emergency allows us to do both.”

The State of Emergency extension also allows city and county governments to secure necessary emergency contracts to meet the other immediate needs of the community, like storm debris clean-up.

FEMA is now offering disaster assistance for citizens in the affected areas. You can reach FEMA by calling 800-621-3362, online at disasterassistance.gov or in person at one of the Disaster Recovery Centers operating in the region.

Also happening:

• The Red Cross will be using five Emergency Response Vehicle to deliver 5000 Meals-Ready-to-Eat to the areas of West Highland, Radium, and other parts of east Albany.  They will attempt to go neighborhood by neighborhood to distribute MREs. Please contact the Red Cross for more information.

• A Point of Distribution is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday, October 18 at 2424 Sylvester Road. Commodities provided include bottled water, ice, and MREs. People may return to the POD for more supplies as needed. Those wishing to distribute the commodities to their neighborhood are encouraged to do so.

• All volunteers must register with the Community Organizations Active in Disaster at 925 Pine Ave and receive a bright pink tag/placard for their windshields that designates them as legitimate volunteers.

• All contractors must register with the Business License office at 240 Pine Ave. and receive a bright yellow tag/placard for their windshields.

• If volunteers/contractors are unable to produce this documentation, residents need to call the EOC or law enforcement. The safety of our residents is of utmost importance.

• The Dougherty County School District is closed the week of October 15-19, 2018. The District will announce more information on a possible restart for the following week at a later date.  Please visit the school district website at www.docoschools.org for the latest district updates.

• There will be no County Commission meeting on Monday, October 22, 2018. The next scheduled meeting will be on Monday, October 29, 2018 at 10 a.m. in Room 120 of the Albany-Dougherty Government Center.