One of the State of Israel’s top officials in the southeast spent Wednesday in the CSRA, visiting storm-damaged areas and distributing supplies.
Anat Sultan-Dadon, the Consul General of Israel to the Southeastern United States began the day in North Augusta.
“We have been in touch with the authorities and the elected officials and decided to come to one of the locations where it matters to be on the ground,” she explained to ABD.
Sultan-Dadon was joined by elected leaders from North Augusta, South Carolina state government, Columbia County, and Georgia state government.
Surrounded by major damage and debris around the North Augusta Community Center on Brookside Avenue, she told the crowd her visit was a show of support and thanks for America’s support of Israel.
“It is heartbreaking, really heartbreaking, to see how much damage and the loss of life that this hurricane has brought,” she said. “But what is encouraging is to see the resilience and the determination to build, to rebuild, and to get back up. And that is what stands out in seeing the people here.”
She added, “We are grateful to our American friends for standing with us now when it matters most, and these past days seeing the hardship here in the southeast by those affected by Hurricane Helene,” she said. “This is our small opportunity to tell all of our friends here on the ground that we stand with you, we support you, and we care about you.
North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams ticked off the list of how communities on both sides of the Savannah River have been impacted by the storm.
“In four hours in the CSRA on both sides of the river, Helene destroyed about 30 years of infrastructure. It truly was unprecedented for our area,” he said. “We have done incredible work in 13 days, and we’re close to about only 141 houses without power, and we started at 14,012 days ago. So that’s been a lot of prayers, lot of hard work, and we’re excited that we’re getting to, we’re not there yet, but we’re really close.”
He credited the hard work of North Augusta employees with the success so far in the city’s recovery. He also praised the South Carolina State Guard and South Carolina National Guard for sending troops to accelerate the cleanup.
Georgia Representative Brent Cox (R-Ga District 28) was instrumental in spearheading the drive to deliver supplies to people who are still struggling.
“Through ballistic missiles fired in from Iran, all this happening in Gaza, much going on in the West Bank, somehow, this Consul General and her team have found a way to support and help and stand with the southeastern United States,” he said. “This is the kind of leader that she is, is serving our communities and supporting us.”
Williams said the cross-state representation coming to North Augusta is indicative of the team effort needed to recover.
“(Augusta) Mayor Garnet Johnson and I, we always laugh that we have a river between us, not a wall. And the reality is, when you have a hurricane that did the damage that it did, we’re talking decades on both sides of infrastructure damaged in four hours. But then you look at what’s done in North Carolina and Tennessee and Florida, you know that brings people together.”
After the supplies were offloaded at the North Augusta Community Center, the dignitaries were taken on a tour of West Avenue, West Woodlawn, Hammond Drive, and down into Hammond Hill to survey the damage.
Sultan-Dadon also visited Columbia County later in the day, including a stop at the county’s point of distribution (POD) on Columbia Road.
