Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on March 7 $19.7 million of financial and technical assistance to help communities rebuild and repair damages caused by flooding, drought and other natural disasters, according to a story on WLOX.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on March 7 $19.7 million of financial and technical assistance to help communities rebuild and repair damages caused by flooding, drought and other natural disasters, according to a story on WLOX. Funds are made available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program.

Earlier this year, NRCS distributed $215 million to 26 states to assist in disaster recovery projects around the nation. The $19.7 million announced March 7 will meet additional needs expressed by states. Congress set up EWP to respond to emergencies created by natural disasters. In this year's appropriations, Congress provided funds to put towards wait-listed projects from presidentially or locally declared disasters that occurred during 2011.

To read the complete story on WLOX, click here.