Burke County declares emergency; crews carry out dozens of water rescues, order voluntary evacuations after Tropical Storm Helene

Burke County officials signed an emergency declaration ahead of Tropical Storm Helene and issued voluntary evacuation orders for low-lying areas, county officials and residents said. The declaration opened access to state resources and the federal Public Assistance process through FEMA as crews staged and carried out multiple water rescues during the storm.

The emergency declaration was signed by Jeff Britton, chairman of the Burke County Board of Commissioners, the day before the main impact, county speakers said. That declaration "enabled us to do the voluntary evacuation orders for some of the more expected to be impacted areas up towards Lynnville and up towards the lake," a county official said. Officials said the declaration also allowed them to connect with state resources and later to pursue FEMA public-assistance funding tied to the declared emergency.

Why it matters: county officials said FEMA public assistance is only available when an emergency declaration is in place, and they described the declaration as a critical component for recovery and for reimbursing response costs over the following months.

Emergen…