- Neighbors in Lakeland, Georgia are dealing with no power or cell service days after Helene, with widespread damage from downed trees, telephone poles, power lines, and other debris.
- As of Tuesday morning, over 95% of Lanier County remains without power.
- Neighbors like Aslynn Luncsford are dealing with the damage by helping others in town while also in need of help themselves.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm First To Know Meteorologist Riley Winch in the Lakeland neighborhood of Lanier County where neighbors have been dealing with the impacts of Helene for days and are still without power.
"The big trees that are down is a big problem, as you can tell."
That's Aslynn Luncsford, the property manager at Lakewood Apartments here in Lakeland. She said while she was prepared for Helene, its impacts across the neighborhood caught many off guard.
"In the middle of the night when you can't see nothing, all you do is hear it. So you just have to brace for whatever is gonna hit."
And what hit the ground and some homes and businesses across the town were lots of trees. Downed trees are scattered across the Lakewood Apartment complex, with one even falling on top of one of the buildings.
The biggest problems came after the storm. When the complex lost electricity and one of her tenants needed to charge her battery powered oxygen tank, "I called 9-1-1 a hundred times and all I did was get a busy signal. Finally got over there on the other side of the property by the fence and got a signal and it went to Berrien County 9-1-1 cause Lakeland 9-1-1 was down."
While at the Lakewood apartments and visiting Aslynn Monday afternoon, phone signal was still down. Many within Lakeland are still cut off from the outside world days after the storm rolled through.
When faced with the cost of fixing damages on the property, Aslynn noted "we are low income, therefore we don't have a lot of money for the property. We are gonna need some help."
While times are tough for Aslynn and her tenants, she assured me many in the Lakeland neighborhood have been impacted worse. She tells me the importance of having "patience and being grateful for what you got. As long as your family survived we can make it through anything"
My main takeaway touring the damage here in Lakeland in Lanier County is that neighbors are holding on to hope. And they're giving a helping hand to those that need it. And keeping positive. And that positivity is going to get them through the storm. From the Lakeland neighborhood in Lanier County, I'm Meteorologist Riley Winch, ABC 27.
