Holcomb adds 5 more counties to disaster areas from flooding

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Eric Holcomb has added five more Indiana counties to the state's disaster emergency following widespread flooding caused by heavy rains last month.

Holcomb signed an executive order Thursday to include LaPorte, Noble, Posey, Wabash and Warren counties to the disaster emergency, bringing to 31 the number of counties eligible for expanded state emergency services. It's also a step the state must take to request assistance from the federal government.

State officials also said Thursday that three one-stop flood assistance centers in northern Indiana's Jasper, Lake and Elkhart counties will end operations later this week but one will open next week in southern Indiana. That center in the Utica Town Hall in Clark County will be open March 15 through March 17, operating from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. local time.