Tuesday marks one month since a state of emergency was declared in Virginia from Hurricane Helene and FEMA has been in our hometowns.

FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Timothy Pheil estimated there was a total of $160 million of agricultural losses in Virginia. He said $60 million came from Grayson County alone.

“From what damage I have, I could understand how that that millions of dollars would be damaged,” said Dennis Cox, a farmer in Grayson County.

Grayson County has always been known for its rich agriculture industry. September 27 of this year, land was destroyed by Hurricane Helene.

“It’s amazing what the power of the water could do,” said Cox, referring to the flooding.

Cox has lived in the area his entire life and lives on his family farm. It’s been in his family for 200 years.

One month after Helene, he’s still working long days to recover from the flooding.

“Fence building and cleaning fences, branches and creeks and any kind of ditches is full of mud and sand... just cleanup and trying to get back to somewhat normalcy,” said Cox.

Cox, along with many other farmers in the county, took advantage of FEMA’s first Agriculture Recovery Resource Day.

“We’re doing this day specifically for the farmers in the community, Grayson and the nearby communities that need resources, need an opportunity to come talk and regain hope that the devastation that Helene caused is not going to stop them, that there’s opportunities for them to start their own recovery process,” said Pheil.

Over 15 federal, state and local agencies joined in Independence Tuesday to meet with residents and farmers to try to help them bounce back after Helene.

“These programs exist for a reason. They’re paid for by their tax dollars. This is not a handout,” explained Pheil. “This is a return for for what’s been happening, the devastation that has occurred.”

For farmers like Cox, the resource day was an additional step to bring back that same farm that’s been in his family for 200 years, and come back even stronger.

“I thought it really was exceptionally good, considering what we are and where we are located. As far as the people that was willing to help and do anything, FEMA and all the governor organizations, was really great.”

Source - https://www.wdbj7.com