Thirty-one counties and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are eligible to apply for federal public assistance prior to the June 3 deadline, if negatively impacted by the winter storm of Feb. 11-19 (FEMA Disaster 4598).

Local governments, tribes, territories and certain private nonprofits can visit https://grantee.fema.gov to begin the application process. In order to receive federal financial assistance, FEMA must approve the project. The purpose of the Public Assistance Grant Program is to support communities recovering from major disasters by providing them with grant assistance for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures and restoring public infrastructure.

Counties eligible to apply are Lincoln, Lawrence, Franklin, Copiah, Jefferson, Pike, Walthall, Jefferson Davis, Adams, Attala, Choctaw, Claiborne, Covington, Grenada, Hinds, Jasper, Kemper, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Tallahatchie, Warren, Winston and Yazoo.