Mississippi Granted $13.3M for Storm Recovery, More Counties Eligible for Aid

Mississippi’s disaster declaration due to the March flooding and severe storms has been extended to 13 additional counties.

Gov. Phil Bryant said at the beginning of April that 11 counties were added, followed by two more on April 6. In a news release, Bryant said Clarke, Forrest, Greene, Jones, Marion, Panola, Perry, Quitman, Sunflower, and Tunica counties, as well as Wayne George County and Pearl River County, are now eligible for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, which can provide temporary housing assistance, medical, dental and funeral expenses caused by the disaster or uninsured or underinsured personal property losses.

Bolivar, Coahoma and Washington counties were declared March 25. Additional counties could be added pending further damage assessments.

The state was also granted $13.3 million from the federal government for recovery from recent storms and floods.

Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran announced the money April 1, saying it will be used for more than 129 clean-up, repair and flood prevention projects in 29 counties.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Program, which provides aid to communities affected by floods and other natural disasters.

Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says recovery projects are in the following counties: Adams, Calhoun, Carroll, DeSoto, Franklin, Grenada, Greene, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Jones, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lincoln, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pike, Pontotoc, Tallahatchie, Tate, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson and Yazoo.