FEMA Designates 15 West Virginia Counties as a Natural Disaster Area Due to Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides and Mudslides that occurred April 2 to April 6, 2024 Belmont, Columbiana, Gallia, Jefferson, Lawrence, Monroe,

This Presidential disaster declaration allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans.

Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability. USDA’s FSA offers these loans for losses caused by the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides that occurred on April 2 to April 6, 2024.  The deadline for producers in designated primary and contiguous counties to apply for loans is January 22, 2025.  

Impacted Area: West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania  

Triggering Disaster: Severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides that occurred on April 2, 2024, to April 6, 2024

Application Deadline: January 22, 2025

Primary Counties Eligible: West Virgina – Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Fayette, Hancock, Kanawha, Lincoln, Marshall, Nicholas, Ohio, Preston, Putnam, Tyler, Wayne, and Wetzel Counties. 

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

West Virginia – Barbour, Braxton, Clay, Doddridge, Grant, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jackson, Logan, Marion, Mason, Mingo, Monongalia, Pleasants, Raleigh, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Webster and Wyoming Counties.

Kentucky – Boyd, Lawrence and Martin Counties.

Maryland – Garrett Counties.

Ohio – Belmont, Columbiana, Gallia, Jefferson, Lawrence, Monroe, and Washington Counties.

Pennsylvania – Beaver, Fayette, Greene and Washington Counties.

More Resources:

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.

FEMA offers different assistance programs for individual citizens, public groups including government agencies and private nonprofit organizations.  To find the FEMA help you need following a disaster event, visit fema.gov/assistance.