Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe declared 27 counties disaster areas today due to storms and flooding that rolled through the state just before Christmas.

Also today, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management announced the establishment of a call center available to residents in the counties to report damage from the storms and flooding.

The 27 counties are Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Craighead, Dallas, Drew, Faulkner, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Jackson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Lonoke, Miller, Monroe, Nevada, Ouachita, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, White and Woodruff.

Storms and flooding struck those counties on Dec. 23 and 24, causing as much as eight inches of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

ADEM has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send teams to those counties to help with assessing infrastructure damage.
The state will use those assessments to support any requests for federal aid.

Residents of the affected counties who suffered property damage are urged to call 888-683-2336 and will have to provide specific information, including the Social Security number of the primary property owner, the address of the damage property, type of insurance, type of damage, types of necessary needs, temporary needs and uninsured personal property loss.

The call center opened today and will be in operation through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.