The aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby has left visible scars across Bulloch County, and according to Public Safety Director Randy Tillman, the community will feel its effects for months to come. While the damage is extensive, there's a silver lining: no lives were lost.
"The brightest piece of information involving the storm is God saw fit to spare the citizens of Bulloch County from suffering and death," Tillman shared during a recent meeting. He also wants to personally thank Sheriff Noel Brown and his staff for standing with and beside all other first responders to protect life and property.
A community-wide effort
He thanked the commissioners and other county leadership of the past for investing in the public safety infrastructure that weathered this storm, along with the best public works department you could want to have responding in a storm like Debby, the Public Safety team, and animal control and services for all their tireless work.
He also thanked the fire department, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Swift Water Rescue, Investigator Will Simms, Georgia Power, Georgia National Guard, Excelsior EMC, DeWayne Grice, and Bulloch Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), Pittman Park United Methodist Church, and all the media outlets who covered this event and helped disseminate information. He also recognized the countless churches, businesses, and citizens who donated the time and resources to feed many of the first responders and those in need.
Updates on damages and emergency response
Corey Kemp, Director of EMA Services, provided an update of the emergency response efforts. From Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, there were six compromised dams, 11 swift water rescues involving 80 civilians, and 144 EMS calls. Additionally, 156 fire department calls were responded to, and the 911 center handled 2,231 calls. The team has begun assessing individual homes, with 159 homes examined so far, over 50 of which are likely to be labeled as substantially damaged.
County Engineer Brad Deal compared the damage to last year’s Tropical Storm Idalia, noting significant damage to both paved and dirt roads. 13 bridges were closed due to the storm, with inspectors currently focusing on three that may be unstable due to scour under the bridge. Deal highlighted the washout of a box culvert on Nevils-Denmark Road, with repairs expected to cost a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Assistant Public Works Director Robert Seamans urged citizens to bring household waste to convenience centers, stressing the importance of proper disposal to keep the centers safe.
"Citizens are encouraged to bring their household waste to the convenience centers. We're asking that they make sure and put all bulk waste and yard debris into the containers, provided this helps us keep the center safe and our citizens and staff safe. We are reminding contractors and commercial businesses that any solid waste they clean up must go to the transfer station located out on North Main Street," said Seamans.
Road repairs begin
Seamans and his team are also assessing all paved and dirt roads using a custom-built app that allows real-time data collection and reporting.
Public Works Director Dink Butler detailed the ongoing recovery efforts, which included responding to 78 downed trees during the storm. Bulloch County, with 574 paved roads and 524 dirt roads, still has many roads closed. Butler noted that the storm displaced between one to 1.5 million cubic yards of dirt from the dirt road system.
"We just know that they are the initial response efforts. In the early stages of the storm, we -- in preparation for the impact -- started hauling rock to our yard and stockpiling it to be prepared for the response. Our initial stockpile was nowhere near what it was going to take to be able to address those issues. So starting later in the week, we reached out to contract trucking rental units to start hauling rock for us from the supply locations to our yard so we could, in turn, turn around and dedicate our responses to the locations."
"At the end of the week, last week, we had hauled 1,000 tons of number four rock to our yard, and we had received approximately 300 tons of GAB on the yard. As of Sunday afternoon, we had depleted the biggest part of that. I would project, we probably had 100 tons of number fours left on the yard as of Sunday afternoon. We continued that hauling effort. This morning, we had to divert some trucks. Picked up some additional trucking, and we had to divert some of them to Augusta, because we hauled all of the number fours we could get out of Ellabell."
The roads are still bad enough that Bulter and his team advised the Board of Education that they had no confidence in the roads.
"We advised them (the BOE) we still had some paved roads that were still closed, and that they would need to work around. And I also made a statement to them that at that point, I had no confidence in giving them an idea that the dirt roads were safe for travel, for bus traffic."
Additional Public Works employees needed; emergency funding requested
Bulter reminds the commissoners that the Public Works office still has 14 open positions that they need to fill. They need to fill these now more than ever.
The rough estimate based the on experience with Idalia, indicates that if they try to manage this with their current workforce, they're are projecting a year or more to get our roads back to pre-storm conditions.
They need to re-establish road beds back to pre-storm elevation, make the grading contours, and make needed improvements to ditching and drainage. The plan is to do this within the 2025 operating budget.
With FEMA reimbursement looking unlikely, Butler requested emergency funding to hire outside contractors, projecting that it would take a year or more to restore the roads with current resources. The emergency recovery costs are not expected to exceed $5 million, and with the help of contractors, the goal is to restore the roads within 90 to 180 days.
"If you choose to support this request, we will establish the criteria for contract qualifications and guidelines for the purpose of work to be accomplished, and hopefully activate that process within a few weeks," said Butler.
The initial thoughts are to use FEMA rates on equipment and GDOT rates for labor. Further thoughts include:
- Using our materials
- Inspections will follow
- 3-4 outside contractors at the time with our team. Ideally, if they can get 75% done, public works can get the other 25%
- With the contractors, we look to get the roads back to normal in a 90-180 day time period.
Thanks were also given to Governor Kemp and the National Guard for their support. The National Guard spent the better part of three days here and covered approximately 70 roads, helping to make them passable for our citizens.
Rapid Response Plan passed
County Manager Tom Couch recommended using the Rapid Response Plan, which would cover 75% of the costs through TSPLOST funding, prioritizing road repairs over other projects to support local citizens and the economy.
Chairman Roy Thompson emphasized the strength of Bulloch County in times of crisis, referencing past challenges like the pandemic. He and the other commissioners expressed gratitude to the teams working on recovery. Commissioner Toby Conner also highlighted the urgency of repairing the roads with harvest season just 30 days away, explaining the potential impact on those who rely on the crops for their livelihood.
In closing, Brad Deal listed the bridges still closed: Akins Pond Rd, Arcola Rd, Lower Black Creek Rd, DeLoach Church Rd, and Sinkhole Rd. The motion to approve the $5 million project for road repairs, along with assistance from the Rapid Response Plan, was passed unanimously.
With Bulloch County coming together like it has been doing to ensure everyone's safety during and after the storm, we are in good hands and look for brighter days.
