From United States Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated 32 North Carolina counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers who suffered losses due to excessive flooding and wind caused by Hurricane Florence that occurred Sept. 14, 2018, and continuing, may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

The counties in the primary damaged area are Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Granville, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Wayne, and Wilson counties in North Carolina. 

This designation by Secretary Perdue allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. 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 the refinance of certain debts.

Producers in the contiguous North Carolina counties of Alamance, Anson, Dare, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Halifax, Martin, Orange, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren and Washington, along with Chesterfield, Dillon, Horry and Marlboro counties in South Carolina and Danville, Halifax, Mecklenburg, and Pittsylvania counties in Virginia are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is July 8, 2019.