Few cities in Georgia have been left unscathed by a disastrous storm. Certainly not the City of Hazlehurst. In the year since he was elected as Hazlehurst’s Mayor, John Ramay has also seen a tornado, two hurricanes and a snowstorm hit the southeast Georgia city.
Miles from the coast, Ramay never expected Hazlehurst to be so devastated by a hurricane. That’s what happened in September 2024, when the eye of Hurricane Helene rested over the city for hours, bringing winds exceeding 100 miles per hour and toppling trees across the city.
“Individual homes were damaged or completely destroyed, right along with some of the businesses,” Ramay said. “It was unbelievable the amount of damage that was done to us.”
In August 2024, Hurricane Debby brought heavy rain and flooding to Hazlehurst and in January 2025 a rare snowstorm delivered four inches of snow and busted water pipes across the city. Ramay worries about the city’s financial sustainability. “I hope we can recover,” he said.
Weeks after Helene, Ramay attended the Steering Through the Storm: Guiding Your Community Through Disaster training class offered through the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute, which is operated via a partnership between the Georgia Municipal Association and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG).
The lessons he recalls from the class, still ring true, “Prepare for the inevitable,” he said. “Prepare for the unexpected. Study places that have been hit.”
CVIOG Public Service Faculty Member Hardin Watkins explained that he set up the class so attendees could hear from a variety of perspectives.
Crews work on damage after Hurricane Helene.“I share emergency experiences I have worked through when I was a city manager, like storms and a plant explosion,” said Watkins, who served as a city manager for cities in Georgia and North Carolina before joining CVIOG three years ago. He also offers advice on the elected officials’ role during a disaster, best practices or working with staff when the city is embroiled in an emergency, and adopting policies and resolutions relating to disasters.
Class attendees heard from Georgia Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance Program Manager Dr. Beatrice Soler, who explains emergency management lingo, the required forms following a disaster.
Another class presenter, CVIOG instructor Stan Brown, discusses business continuity in an emergency and advises how city officials can get their communities up and running so residents and businesses can get back to normal as best as they can. Brown is a retired city manager, former GMA Member Services Consultant and past president of the American Public Works Association, adding to the wealth of expertise among the instructors.
Class attendees also share their stories, Watkins said, providing peer-to-peer learning and perspectives from across the state. Watkins ends the class by showing a video illustrating the fable of the ant and the grasshopper—where the ants prepare for storms when times are good, and the grasshopper does not. Class attendees see the consequences of each insect’s decision.
Downed trees in Louisville after Hurricane Helene.“There is no reason we all can’t be ants and be prepared,” Watkins said.
GMA is planning to provide additional resources to help cities better prepare for inevitable storms and disasters.
“We created a committee of mayors and city managers from each district and met with them to walk through what needs to happen pre-disaster, during the disaster (the first 72 hours and after), and post-disaster,” explained GMA Member Services Consultant and former Washington City Manager Sherri Bailey, who is leading the effort. “We plan to have an all-inclusive checklist covering the four different disaster phases. We will also offer webinars that will focus on each phase.”
When discussing disaster preparedness with GMA’s Member Services Advisory Council, Bailey said members shared that communications struggles are often an issue during disaster.
“When the power is out, it is hard to tell staff where they need to be or to verify staff addresses if they need to be picked up for work,” Bailey said. “In addition to crafting disaster communications plans, we will advise cities to do an inventory of everything they have, like supplies, equipment, and trucks. We are encouraging the creation of a database of the resources communities have, so cities can call one another and request resources when needed.”
The disaster preparedness tool-kit page should be available on GMA’s website within the next couple of months, Bailey said. Steering Through the Storm: Guiding Your Community Through a Disaster will be offered this year on April 24 during the Spring Training South event in Dublin and on November 13 at the GMA Offices in Atlanta.