Escambia County is among the areas of Alabama for which federal disaster aid has been approved to supplement state and local recovery efforts in areas impacted by severe weather and flooding that occurred during Dec. 24-31, 2015, Gov. Robert Bentley announced Thursday.

“The recovery process is ongoing, and this federal aid help will ensure Alabamians have resources available to rebuild their lives from the December severe weather outbreak,” Bentley said. “I appreciate FEMA’s quick response in approving the disaster assistance.”

Other counties included in this declaration are Autauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, DeKalb, Elmore, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Lamar, Lawrence, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Pike, Perry, Russell, St Clair, Walker and Winston.

The disaster declaration makes local governments in the 39 Alabama counties eligible to apply for assistance. The grant provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency may assist the impacted counties with debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement, or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities and the facilities of certain Private Non-Profit organizations.