8 Counties Listed As Natural Disaster Areas After Flooding

Eight west­ern Ohio coun­ties have been des­ig­nated as nat­ural dis­as­ter areas after months of heavy rain and flood­ing. The des­ig­na­tion, by the U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture for But­ler, Darke, Defi­ance, Hamil­ton, Mer­cer, Pauld­ing, Pre­ble and Van Wert coun­ties, means farm­ers in those coun­ties can now seek fed­eral assis­tance includ­ing emer­gency loans. They also can get guid­ance on apply­ing from local Farm Ser­vice Agency offices.