Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Large Bend area as a strong Class 4 storm, impacting thousands and thousands throughout the southeastern United States. Over the past 48 hours, it has left devasting impacts within the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
That additionally contains Augusta, which noticed wind gusts of as much as 80 miles per hour at its native airport. First responders within the metropolis reported quite a few bushes falling on homes, automobiles, and energy strains. Flooding additionally wreaked havoc on the realm, which led to a number of fatalities within the area. Practically 225,000 individuals are with out energy, per The Augusta Chronicle. The better metro space encompassing Augusta, Georgia, and Aiken, South Carolina, has a inhabitants of about 600,000, which means greater than a 3rd of the residents on this space have misplaced energy.
Practically 1.1 million residents in Georgia are with out energy general. Gasoline shortages have additionally led to large strains at gasoline stations.
Therefore, Augusta Nationwide Chairman Fred Ridley launched a press release on early Saturday morning associated to this storm:
“Our Augusta neighborhood has suffered catastrophic and historic influence from Hurricane Helene. We presently are assessing the consequences at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership,” Ridley stated within the assertion.
“Within the meantime, our focus and efforts are foremost with our employees, neighbors, and enterprise house owners in Augusta. Our ideas and prayers are with them in addition to everybody all through Georgia and the Southeast who’ve been affected.”
“Our Augusta neighborhood has suffered catastrophic and historic influence from Hurricane Helene. We presently are assessing the consequences at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership.
Within the meantime, our focus and efforts are foremost with our employees, neighbors and enterprise house owners in Augusta. Our…
— The Masters (@TheMasters) September 28, 2024
Ridley didn’t point out any injury to the membership’s property; as an alternative, he centered on the neighborhood. The membership has maintained a philanthropic presence in Augusta for years, supporting native charities and endeavors yearly by way of its Masters Match Basis. The membership additionally offered the Boys and Women Membership of Augusta with a $2.5 million reward that helped construct a neighborhood middle, which opened in 2022.
However now the area faces devastating impacts that would take months—maybe years—to scrub up and restore. But, Augusta Nationwide can be on the forefront of these efforts, lending a hand to its neighborhood, which is desperately in want. Whether or not the course and membership suffered any injury is unknown, however that’s clearly not the precedence.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. You’ll want to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.
