President Obama has signed the federal disaster declaration that includes some 37 counties in Arkansas on Friday. The declaration is for the events in late December 2015 including storm damage and flooding across Lawrence County.
Buddy Williams, Director of the Lawrence County Office of Emergency Services stated that he was notified around 8 pm on Friday night by the Arkansas Department Of Emergency Management who then notified County Judge Dale Freeman. Williams stated that Lawrence County had already qualified for the state funding but addition of the federal funding would greatly increase the counties ability to repair damaged roads without large deficits in the county road department budget.
Williams went on to state that some estimates of 17 Million in damages across the 37 counties is simply an estimate and not firm figures, our county was surveyed by FEMA while some roads were still underwater and we had no way to see the amount of damages. According to early estimates, the majority of the damage was located in the Ravenden, Imboden, Strawberry, Lynn amd Black Rock areas but according to the road departments areas around Walnut Ridge and Portia had substantial damage as well.
The next process is for FEMA to hold applicants meetings in the near future, Williams stated that not only Lawrence County representatives would be in attendance but also the Lynn Water Department that sustained damage during the December flooding. According to Williams once the county qualified for assistance this made Lynn eligible for financial assistance with the damage their water system sustained.