(ABC 6 News) — On Tuesday, Governor Tim Walz announced that Minnesotans in 19 counties working to recover from this year’s flooding can now request individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help recover from losses they suffered.

The following counties are currently part of the declaration following the expansion: Blue Earth, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Waseca, and Watonwan.

Additional county designations may be added to the declaration if requested and warranted by the results of damage assessments.

Governor Walz requested the amendment to the original June 28th declaration after damage assessments documented significant destruction to homes and businesses across the state. 

“Minnesotans’ homes, belongings, and family businesses were devastated by flooding this summer, and we aren’t stopping until they get the support they need to recover. This assistance is going to make a world of a difference for the individuals and businesses that were impacted,” said Governor Walz via a press release. “I’m grateful to our partners in the federal government for their continued commitment to our recovery efforts, and to the Minnesotans who carefully documented the extent of this damage.”

In the coming days, FEMA, in partnership with HSEM, will establish disaster recovery centers to assist people in navigating the process and house state agency representatives to ensure individuals and businesses understand all the programs that are available. More information on how to access these centers will be forthcoming from FEMA.

In the meantime, individuals in the declared counties are encouraged to create an application online by visiting disasterassistance.gov. You can also call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. Specialists are available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET.