Hurricane Helene damaged hundreds of state buildings, including colleges and prisons, and Gov. Brian Kemp is asking Georgia lawmakers to cover the cost.
Kemp’s proposed amended fiscal year 2025 budget includes $50 million to cover insurance costs for damage to 282 state buildings in September. It’s a portion of the $614.7 million for hurricane-related costs included in the budget.
“This, obviously, is a significant catastrophic event,” Rebecca Sullivan, commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, told lawmakers at a budget hearing Thursday.
Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast in September, causing billions of dollars of damage. In Georgia, it cost the agricultural and timber industries an estimated $5.5 billion in losses. It also damaged 212,747 homes across the state, and 34 Georgians lost their lives.
On Thursday, Sullivan laid out some of the toll on buildings at colleges, universities and other state facilities. Though estimates are still being finalized, she said South Georgia State College in Douglas has tallied $11 million in claims, while Augusta University has an estimated $8 million worth. The Department of Corrections has an estimated $6 million in claims for various facilities, while the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation each have $4 million in claims.
Georgia uses a mix of self-insurance and commercial carriers to pay such claims. At more than $50 million in claims, Hurricane Helene far exceeded the damage to state facilities caused by Hurricane Michael in 2018 ($16 million) and Winter Storm Elliot in 2022 ($22 million), Sullivan said.
The damage to buildings is just part the financial toll for the state. Kemp’s budget also includes $200 million to cover the Georgia Department of Transportation’s cost for debris removal, infrastructure repairs and sign replacement, plus another $99 million to make the agency whole from a motor fuel tax holiday Kemp imposed in the wake of the storm.
The budget also includes $100 million to replenish funds used for immediate financial relief for the agricultural and timber industries, $150 million to cover the state’s share of federal disaster aid and $15.8 million for Georgia Forestry Commission expenses.
Kemp called the hurricane spending his top priority and asked legislators for “prompt consideration” in a statement released Thursday.
House of Representatives appropriations subcommittees began hearings on Kemp’s amended ’25 budget Thursday. Those hearings will continue next week.
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