While Augusta has made massive strides in clean-up after Hurricane Helene, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Debris piles and wires remain, and there’s substantial work to be done at the Augusta Canal, which may not reopen until May 2025.
City officials addressed questions and highlighted the work that had already been completed at a Town Hall meeting Tuesday at Warren Road Community Center, located in the hardest hit part of the community.
According to Steve Cassell, ISM principal and former city of Augusta engineer who worked on cleanup after Pax in 2014, about one-third of the debris related to Helene has come from District 7.
“If you have Wheeler Road or Walton Way or Skinner Mill Road within a mile of your house, you got hit hard,” he said.
So far, nearly 2 million cubic yards of debris has been collected and Cassell said the first pass of debris collection is expected to be completed by Christmas.
If debris hasn’t been collected yet, there may be reasons such as it’s not agricultural and is mixed with construction waste, there may be large tree root balls included or there could be overhanging lines said Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson.
Root balls are often too heavy for some of the vehicles, he said.
One resident asked about downed wires.
Those, Johnson said, are not power lines but belong to telephone or internet providers, and the city is working on getting the right people to remove their debris.
Anyone with specific questions should call the city’s 311 line, he said.
Wes Byne, Augusta Utilities director, provided an update of the city’s water systems and the Augusta Canal.
Loss of power early in the storm resulted in three of the city’s five stations. They are fully operational now. Residents will be getting a $10 water bill credit.
The Augusta Canal tow path from the headgates to the pumping station will be closed until at least May, he said, because of substantial damage to the area.
Many trees are submerged in the Canal itself.
“The embankment is broken; trees are down. We have to clear the hanging trees and broken trees and dewater the Canal rebuild the banks that are cracked and slumping in the canal,” he said.
It will cost about $10 million to repair the Canal.
Representatives from FEMA and the Small Business Administration were also on hand to field questions related to the process.
A second town hall meeting will be Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at Diamond Lakes Recreation Center.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
