JONES COUNTY, Ga. — An extra few minutes of rain last March left a Jones County couple with a flood, months of repairs and a deluge of bills — and they say there was no aid money they could get.
James Lamb watched from his kitchen March 27, 2023 as passing storms flooded parts of east Macon and Jones County.
"I was actually praying that it wouldn't rain 15 more minutes. And 15 more minutes of rain came about 1:30 or 2," Lamb said.
Within those 15 minutes, the Lambs' home of nearly 40 years became part of the flood water.
Lamb says water came across Graham Road from Walnut Creek and into the yard. The house is a bit farther uphill, and about two feet above the ground, but the water still seeped into the house.
"Everything in the house up to your ankle was covered in reddish fine mud," Lamb said.
Local, state and federal agencies tried to help, he said. Lawmakers did, too; but Lamb says they couldn't get any aid money.
"We've gotten rejection letters written from our state representative and the governor's office," he said.
They told the Lambs there was no aid available. According to a flier the Lambs got from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, federal money is only available to individuals if there's $19 million in damage statewide.
Now, the Lambs hope the Federal Emergency Management Agency changes its policy so nobody else faces the same situation.
GEMA says they usually don't help out with flooding. They directed 13WMAZ to FEMA District 4. We reached out to their news information line to get more clarification on their process, but were unable to reach them.