Flooded households eligible for food aid

STAR CITY — A total of 242 households across the state affected by recent flooding in their homes have been approved for benefits to buy food at authorized stores using a special electronic, debit-like card funded by the federal government, according to Amy Webb, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, on Monday.

The benefit — the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, popularly known as D-SNAP — is one of several assistance programs offered to Arkansans to help them financially recover from the floods.

A registration center opened Monday in this southeast Arkansas rural town, the county seat of Lincoln County, where officials continue to help victims of the flood.

About six homes were damaged, some “minor” and some “major,” said Sheila Magness, coordinator of the Lincoln County Office of Emergency Management, adding that “others were just affected to some degree.”

One house was completely under water.

“The only thing sticking out was the roof,” she said. “We still haven’t been able to get into that one.”

Lincoln County is one of 17 Arkansas counties included in a federal disaster declaration due to the recent flooding, said Melody Daniel, public information officer for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

Other counties in the declaration are Arkansas, Chicot, Conway, Crawford, Desha, Faulkner, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Logan, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Searcy, Sebastian, and Yell counties, Daniel said.

Of those 17 counties, three — Searcy, Franklin, and Johnson counties — were approved for public assistance to help rebuild infrastructure or to pay for expenses

directly related to managing the flood.

One county — Chicot County — was approved for partial public assistance related to direct costs of managing the crisis during the flood.

“That would be a county calling in additional law enforcement, having deputies work overtime or having reserve deputies work more hours than normal,” Daniel said. “It includes extra fire department hours, extra road crew hours, just things you’re having to do during the actual response.”

Other categories of public assistance include debris removal, bridge work, road repair, and other infrastructure repairs.

As of July 11, Daniel said, $7.9 million has been approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Housing Program in 13 counties. At this point, she said, the affected counties experienced an estimated $15 million in infrastructure damages.

Officials attribute one death — 64-year-old Tommy Richard Adams of Charleston — directly to flooding.

According to reports, on May 28, emergency responders discovered Adams’ vehicle submerged in about 7 feet of water on Arkansas 22, near Fort Chaffee.

Residents of Lincoln County affected by flooding can apply for food benefits in person at the Star City Department of Human Services building from 7 a.m. 6 p.m. until July 23.

Authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services, residents who suffered damage or destruction to their home or self-employment business, loss of income, or unreimbursed disaster-related expenses due to flooding along the Arkansas River that began May 21 are eligible to receive assistance under the program.

Marsha Hawkins, administrator of the Lincoln County Department of Human Services office, said that as of Monday morning, no one had been to the local office to apply for benefits. But she expected participation to be light.

About 40 households were affected by flooding in the rural county.