Several Alabama counties were approved for public and individual disaster assistance by the federal government on Thursday for storm damage from Hurricane Zeta
The decision came following a phone call between President Donald Trump and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
The counties that are eligible for public assistance include Autauga, Butler, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Hale, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Perry, Randolph, Talladega, Washington and Wilcox.
The counties that are eligible to receive individual assistance include Clarke, Dallas, Marengo, Mobile, Perry, Washington and Wilcox.
“On my call with President Trump earlier today, he assured me that we could consider our request for federal aid following Hurricane Zeta done, and he quickly delivered,” Ivey said. “Within hours of our call, FEMA approved our request for public and individual assistance. This will go a long way in providing the people impacted by Zeta the help they need.”
Hurricane Zeta moved inland rapidly. Because of its speed, it did not lose much strength as it came ashore, thus interior counties experienced hurricane- and tropical storm-force winds knocking down trees damaging powerlines, homes, vehicles and businesses.
Hurricane Zeta was the second hurricane to impact Alabama this fall. The much slower-moving Hurricane Sally came ashore near Gulf Shores severely impacting Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia Counties. The 2020 season was the most active hurricane season on record.
The determination on which counties receive disaster assistance and which do not is made based on assessments of the damage by FEMA in the days and weeks that follow. Some individuals may have damage in counties that were not declared a disaster, but the damage in the county as a whole was not large enough to reach the threshold for that county to qualify.
