LITTLE ROCK - Governor Mike Beebe has declared Ashley, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Lafayette, Lincoln, Lonoke, Madison, Miller, Nevada, Prairie and Union Counties state disaster areas due to damage caused by heavy October rains and flooding.

The Individual Assistance Program has also been activated for residents of three of those counties: Columbia, Lafayette and Nevada. Beebe has authorized $100,000 from the Governor's Disaster Fund to assist in those three counties.

Of the 20 counties declared, 17 are eligible for assistance through the Public Assistance Program. The other three, Ashley, Desha and Lonoke, have been declared solely for agricultural damage. The agricultural declaration will assist in obtaining possible federal assistance for Arkansas farmers.

Even before this latest round of heavy rains, Governor Beebe had submitted a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking for a Secretarial Disaster Designation for Arkansas. The Farm Service Agency is conducting crop damage assessments to assist in that request. If approved, the Secretarial Designation would free up emergency low-interest loans to help Arkansas farmers who have suffered significant crop losses.