AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Our I-TEAM has a warning about the mess Hurricane Helene left behind, and it's probably one you haven't considered.

Leaders on both sides of the river are working to clear debris ahead of FEMA's deadline to get fully reimbursed. As the clock is ticking, we're talking about actual ticks.

By now, we've all gotten pretty used to the piles of debris, but have you ever stopped to think about what could be lurking inside them?

Something as small as a poppy seed could be life-threatening. Just ask Taylor Hartley.

"If you're not careful, it can kill you," said Hartley.

We first introduced you to this self-proclaimed Georgia country boy this summer after a tick bite made him dangerously allergic to red meat.

It's called alpha-gal syndrome. The tick responsible is the Lone Star tick.

It just happens to be the most common tick in our area.

It's also commonly found in at least 30 other states, too.

That's why Hartley's story made it all the way to Local News Live, our parent company's national news network. It's where, 350 miles away, Shawn Metcalf was watching.

"I didn't even know it was Georgia, but I guess it was, and how you were saying there's no cure," said Metcalf.

There still isn't a cure - at least not one traditional medicine recognizes - but WVIR, our sister station in Charlottesville, Virginia, helped us interview Metcalf via phone.

He remembers the tick bite. He also remembers a cookout weeks after that bite.

"I served up hamburgers from a cow I processed myself, so I know it was a good quality meat," said Metcalf.

Six hours later, he was the only one sick. "Worse than any stomach - food poisoning - anything you might normally have. It's, like, worse."

The list of possible symptoms isn't exactly unique to alpha-gal syndrome, so it can take weeks or even months to connect the dots:

The allergy also develops six to eight weeks after a tick bite, so the tick bite isn't usually top of mind.

Meredith Anderson: "It took some effort to find me, so I guess it really is important to you to have people know."

Metcalf: "What I'm going to tell you, I was a real skeptic, so I didn't want to tell anybody at first. So when it worked for me, I had absolutely no reason why I wouldn't put it out there where thousands of people - possibly hundreds of thousands of people - could benefit from it."

It is acupuncture, but it's not ancient Chinese medicine.

"It is a French system," explained Dr. Nadir Soliman via Zoom.

Dr. Soliman is based in Rockville, Maryland, and he took that French system a step further.

In 1956, a doctor in France discovered a part of the ear that could be used to address allergy symptoms, so Dr. Soliman started experimenting with it.

"It took me about six or seven, eight years to try different parts of the ear, to see how they will respond to allergy treatment until I figured out that there is a particular area on the ear that could be used for addressing allergy problems," said Dr. Soliman.

He named it SAAT, or the Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment.

Dr. Soliman did not treat Metcalf, but someone using his method did. He has a list on his website of those he's trained and certified.

There are only three in Georgia and two in South Carolina. None are in our area yet.

"Once it succeeds, these patients who were doubters before, they become a very strong advocate for the procedures, telling other people how successful the procedure is and how quick it is," said Dr. Soliman.

The SAAT method involves pinpointing the exact spot in your ear that corresponds to your allergy. Dr Soliman says it's different for everyone.

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Then, he puts a tiny needle there, spreading it just under the skin. You wear it for a few weeks, and that's it, but if you're like Metcalf and not too excited about needles, there is another option.

"'Well, for kids, we have these sprays.' I said, 'For kids?' I can do that! I'm a kid! I can do that," laughed Metcalf.

He gave it a try, and he said it worked, so he felt the need to tell others.

"I wonder how many people will listen to this and contact you and tell you their story," he said.

This information could not have come at a better time.

Our I-TEAM spoke with an entomologist at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Nancy Hinkle says, thanks to Hurricane Helene, a lot more of us are coming into contact with ticks because of clean up and the debris piles hanging around.

It usually takes a couple of months for alpha-gal symptoms to appear, so now is about the time that bit just after the hurricane might start to see symptoms.

Hopefully, this story might help people recognize those symptoms could be connected to alpha-gal.