BENTONVILLE — Benton County residents whose property was damaged in the Aug. 8 flooding won’t get state aid in rebuilding, a county official said Tuesday.
Robert McGowen, director of Benton County’s Emergency Management Agency, said the county was notified by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management individual assistance for residents who experienced flooding Aug. 8 will not be provided by the state.
“Authorization of the State Individual Assistance Program will not be allowed unless a reasonable amount or a majority of homes have a major and/or destroyed level damages,” according to the letter from the agency.
The denial for individual assistance is based on the total amount of uninsured losses to residential structures within the county.
McGowen said the county’s Emergency Management Agency has worked with the state and FEMA to tabulate and process information to enable county residents, governments and other entities to receive assistance since the flooding occurred.
“It is unfortunate we did not meet the threshold required for our residents to receive assistance from the state of Arkansas or FEMA,” McGowen said.