14 COUNTIES declared as disaster areas.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has declared 14 counties in Arkansas disaster areas after storms in late February caused damage across the state.

Counties affected by the disaster declarations are Arkansas, Bradley, Chicot, Cleveland and Desha in southeast Arkansas; Clark and Ouachita in southwest Arkansas; Clay, Mississippi and Randolph in northeast Arkansas; Faulkner, Lonoke and White in central Arkansas; and Lee in east Arkansas.

“Today, I have issued a disaster declaration for several counties across Arkansas that were impacted by last month’s severe weather causing significant damage to both private property and public facilities,” Hutchinson said in a release Friday.

“In order to provide assistance as quickly as possible to these affected areas, I have directed my agencies to render maximum assistance to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for those impacted counties,” the release said.

A series of storms that began Feb. 20 caused flooding in many places, with some areas receiving more than 10.5 inches of rain between Feb. 20-25, according to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The storms also spawned two EF-1 tornadoes Feb. 24 in Clay and Mississippi counties that caused wind damage and contributed to the death of 83-year-old Albert Charles Foster. Foster died after his trailer home was blown into a nearby pond in Clay County.