LITTLE ROCK – Governor Mike Beebe recently declared Chicot, Crittenden, Lonoke and Mississippi Counties state disaster areas due to damage caused by powerful tornadoes and violent thunderstorms on Friday, May 2. This brings the total number of declared counties to 11. More counties will be added to this list as preliminary damage assessments continue throughout the state. Beebe has already declared disasters in Benton, Cleburne, Conway, Grant, Pulaski, Saline and Van Buren Counties.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management will work in the coming days to establish locations for Disaster Recovery Centers in the declared counties. Governor Beebe is scheduled to begin touring damaged areas of the state later this afternoon.

Governor Beebe previously declared 59 Arkansas counties disaster areas following storms and floods in the late winter and early spring. While federal assistance continues for those disasters, most of those state declarations have expired. The 11 counties declared since yesterday began a new set of declarations.

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