Recent rains have caused such damage to Montgomery County that County Judge Craig Doyal issued a disaster declaration to solicit state and federal assistance.

A request for assistance was submitted from Doyal to Gov. Abbott on June 15, a day before Tropical Storm Bill made landfall in Matagorda County. The disaster declaration is part of the process of receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Montgomery County on its own would not be eligible for FEMA assistance unless Texas has met the FEMA quota of 801 damaged homes.

However Montgomery County was added to the Small Business Administration declaration because it is adjacent to Harris County, which has met the SBA declaration quota of 25 uninsured, damaged homes or businesses sustaining at least 40 percent of uninsured losses, according to Montgomery County.

According to the SBA, the declaration could provide low interest loans to homeowners, businesses and nonprofits to aid in rebuilding damaged property that is privately owned.

The declaration is another step in helping a county in need of state and federal assistance, Doyal said.