Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (GA-01) today announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved Chatham County for Private Property Debris Removal. The move comes after weeks of effort led by Carter along with Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue. In addition to leading letters with the Senators, Carter and his staff had several meetings, conference calls, and countless exchanges with federal disaster response officials to secure the approval.

The announcement will save Chatham County taxpayer dollars by tapping federal emergency response dollars rather than saddling local property owners and the county government with the hefty price tag of clean up.

"This is great, but long overdue news," Carter said. "FEMA's denial of the original application was completely unacceptable. Just driving around, anyone can see how desperately we need debris removal assistance. I worked with Chatham County to appeal this decision, and I am pleased that our community will finally receive this critical assistance that it needs to recover from the hurricane.

"While this is news to be celebrated, I will continue to fight to ensure other areas in the First District of Georgia also receive the help and debris removal they need."

According to a letter sent to county officials by FEMA, Causton Bluff, Dutch Island, Emerald Pointe, Forest Cove, The Landings, Long Point, Modena Island, River's Edge and South Harbor have been approved for federal assistance pending indemnification agreements.