On Oct. 12, President Trump declared a major disaster in the State of North Carolina based on losses caused by Hurricane Florence that occurred Sept. 7-29.

As a result of this major disaster, 13 North Carolina counties were declared eligible for Federal disaster assistance, including Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency (EM) loans for eligible family farmers.

Dare County is one of those primary disaster counties, and the only one east of I-95.

In addition to those 13 primary disaster counties, 26 additional North Carolina counties were named as contiguous counties where eligible family farmers may qualify for FSA EM loan assistance.

Those counties include Currituck, Hyde and Tyrrell, with the others being west of I-95.

Wendy Modlin, Dare-Tyrrell County Executive Director, said that effective Oct. 12 farmers in

Tyrrell and Dare Counties may apply for EM loans for physical and production losses. June 12, 2019, is the deadline for filing an application.

The local office is located at 155 L.A. Keiser Dr., Columbia, and has office hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Any farmer who suffered a physical and production loss should contact Cecelia Edge, Senior Farm Loan Officer in the Tyrrell-Dare County FSA office, for additional information, Modlin said.