LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga. — Just over 24 hours after the worst of Helene tore through Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp was on the ground in south Georgia to give an update on the storm's aftermath. He and First Lady Marty Kemp spent Saturday morning touring the damage in Valdosta, one of Georgia's hardest-hit cities.

”We have no power, no cable, no internet. We just have been sitting on the porch watching the cars go by,” a resident said.

During an afternoon press conference, Gov. Kemp emphasized a major culprit behind the state's death toll: falling trees.