Gov. Mary Fallin says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved public assistance for 16 counties hit by May storms that brought tornadoes and flooding to Oklahoma.
Fallin said FEMA approved the request on Friday that she submitted Wednesday.
The storms caused an estimated $40 million in uninsured infrastructure losses, and debris removal and response costs.
FEMA says disaster assistance for the state now tops $25 million dollars.
Nearly 13,000 households in Central Oklahoma have applied for individual assistance from FEMA and the state Department of Emergency Management.
As of Thursday, recovery workers had cleared more than 517,000 cubic yards of disaster debris. That's a little more than half of the estimated 900,000 cubic yards of debris from the devastating tornadoes and flooding.
Approval means federal funding is available to help municipalities, counties, schools and rural electric cooperatives pay for infrastructure repairs, debris removal and costs associated with responding to the tornadoes, straight-line winds, flooding and severe storms that occurred between May 18 and June 2.
Counties included in the request are Atoka, Canadian, Coal, Hughes, Latimer, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha and Seminole. Additional aid was also granted for Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie counties.
