VIDALIA — The Federal Disaster declaration for Hurricane Gustav has been expanded to include Concordia Parish.

In the amended declaration, Concordia Parish — along with 19 others — is eligible for the FEMA Public Assistance Program for categories A-G.

FEMA’s public assistance program is not the same as the individual assistance program. The public assistance program is for repair of and emergency prevention measures for publicly owned facilities. Debris removal is also included in public assistance grants.

That means that state agencies and local government entities — as well as certain eligible non-profits — in the parish can file a request for assistance in those areas with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said city officials had talked about applying for public assistance if it became available, and he was happy to hear that the declaration had been expanded.

“We had a tremendous amount of debris that had to be removed and hauled, and it took a lot of overtime man hours to do that,” he said. “It will help us because this has been a tremendous financial issue with us.”

Copeland said he was also glad to hear that facility repair was included in the declaration, because Vidalia City Hall was damaged during the storm.

The deadline to file the request is Oct. 30.

With the amended declaration, every parish in the state is now eligible for the public assistance program.