Gov. Brian Kemp speaks, left, as Agriculture Secretary Gary Black looks on Wednesday. The two were urging Congress to pass a disaster aid bill in response to Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida and Southwest Georgia six months ago.

ATLANTA – A clearly frustrated Gov. Brian Kemp and Agricultural Commissioner Gary Black urged Congress to resume disaster aid talks as farmers in storm-torn southwest Georgia struggle to bounce back.

“The simplest, easiest thing is for Congress to pass the disaster bill,” Kemp told reporters at a Wednesday press conference at the state Capitol. “We have done this in the past. We have done this for Puerto Rico.

“I know in southwest Georgia, these people feel like, ‘We are out of sight. We’re out of mind. People could care less about us.’ And that is not right. That is absolutely not right,” he added.

It has been six months since Hurricane Michael entered the southwest corner of the state as a Category 3 storm, inflicting about $2.5 billion in damages to the agricultural industry.

A disaster relief bill that would have delivered about $13.5 billion in aid to several states, including Georgia, failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

Kemp and Black voiced dismay over what they described as a moving goal post on aid for Puerto Rico, which is still struggling from a 2017 hurricane. Disaster aid talks reportedly stalled after Republicans balked at the Democrats’ insistence for more aid for the island.

But at least one Georgia official has also pushed for President Donald Trump to also do more. U.S. Congressman Austin Scott, who is a Republican from Tifton, said the White House’s budget office had not even submitted a request for disaster assistance.

“Never before have we seen American communities that were wrecked with catastrophes neglected like this,” Scott said from the House floor Tuesday. “Calls to White House staff have gone unheeded, and but for one tweet on April 1, it seems the president has moved on.”

Scott said he’s been fielding calls from farmers and their lenders who say the impact from the storm is becoming increasingly more difficult to bear.

The uncertainty surrounding the federal aid has left some financial institutions wary, Black said.

“I’m asking for action from Congress, and there’s plenty on both sides that need to come to the table to help,” Black said.

A state loan program has likely helped dozens of farmers at least plant again this year, according to Black. Lawmakers have approved $75 million for the program, with 274 farmers receiving loans. It was part of a disaster aid package that state lawmakers approved during a special session last November and then increased this year.

Black said 100 farmers or more may have to sit this year out, their futures uncertain.

Kemp called the congressional inaction a “low point” for the country.

“We cannot continue to wait,” Kemp said. “We already have generational losses, but we’re going to run the risk of just this whole industry for some families just completely going away.”