Georgia officials agree to spend $100 million on Hurricane Helene aid for farms and forestry

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's state government is diverting $100 million to spend on loans to farmers and cleanup after Hurricane Helene.

The Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission voted unanimously Friday to spend the money, which had been set aside for construction projects or paying off existing debt.

Officials last month estimated that the storm, which caused extensive damage in the eastern half of the state after a Sept. 26 landfall in Florida, caused $6.46 billion in economic losses in the state's agriculture and forestry industries.

Cotton, pecan and chicken farmers took severe losses, as did owners of private timberlands. Lt Gov. Burt Jones and others have called the damage a “generational loss.”