As southern states continue to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Helene, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has criticized the Biden-Harris administration for not doing enough to help rural communities across his state. The state has seen at least 25 deaths from the storm.

Speaking with WRDW, Kemp expressed frustrations about having to call the White House himself to request that additional counties hit by the hurricane be added to Biden’s disaster declaration.

"When the first emergency declarations came down, there was only 11 counties in that. A lot of people were outraged, including me, because there was such devastation in up to 90 counties," the Republican governor said. 

"So we called the White House. We spoke to the president’s chief of staff, the FEMA administrator and said, look, you’re sending the signal that you’re not paying attention to some of these rural communities," he added.

Biden issued his initial disaster declaration for the state of Georgia on Monday for the counties of Appling, Brooks, Coffee, Columbia, Jefferson, Liberty, Lowndes, Pierce, Richmond, Tattnall, and Toombs.

The declaration orders federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area, and includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs for residents and business owners.

According to the New York Post, at least 200 people across six states have been confirmed dead from the storm. Recovery from the storm could cost upwards of $35 billion.