OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The federal government has approved a request by Gov. Mary Fallin for public assistance to 10 Oklahoma counties hit hard by severe storms and flooding in April.

Fallin said Friday that assistance is now available for the counties of Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Haskell, LeFlore, McIntosh, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg and Sequoyah. Fallin says severe storms in those counties resulted in an estimated $8.6 million in infrastructure damage and response costs.

Approval means federal funding is available to help cities, towns, counties and rural electric cooperatives pay for infrastructure repairs, debris removal and costs associated with responding to the storms that began on April 21.

Fallin formally requested the federal assistance on May 20. She says other counties can be added to the request as additional damages are identified.