Disaster Designation Issued For 11 Alabama Counties

Eleven Alabama counties are under a natural disaster designation after excessive rainfall and flooding from Tropical Storm Cindy.

The conditions caused extensive damage to crops, sparking Gov. Kay Ivey to ask for federal assistance for Alabama farmers in June.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, in a news release Wednesday, said farmers may be eligible for emergency loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency. The 11 counties covered by the primary designation are: Baldwin, Cherokee, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Hale, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Talladega and Washington. Farmers have eight months to apply for emergency loans.

Farmers in counties that border the primary areas may be eligible for assistance too. They are: Bibb, Butler, Calhoun, Choctaw, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Covington, Dallas, DeKalb, Etowah, Greene, Perry, St. Clair, Shelby, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, and Wilcox.