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His action, declaring Carroll County a disaster area, followed last week's heavy rains that caused extensive damage to county roadways and bridges.
Early in the week, Barr, his road foreman Devoe Woodworth, and emergency management officials toured the worst of the areas to get a damage estimate.
Tim Gehring, the regional coordinator for Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM), went out with Barr on Monday, said Jason Morris, the county coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and toured areas again on Tuesday with him.
Morris said the intent is to apply for state aid, and possibly federal aid, to help the county recover some of its flood-related costs.
At least one low water bridge will need to be replaced. In addition, many bridge approaches were washed away and numerous rural roadways were rendered impassable when upwards of six inches of rain reportedly fell in a four-hour span in some areas of the county where the worst of the damage took place, in the southeast section.
Barr's disaster proclamation states there was considerable damage to public and private properties, and those conditions constitute a threat to the safety and welfare of the county -- creating an emergency disaster situation, as defined by state law,
According to Matt DeCample, with Governor Mike Beebe's office, the process is as follows: the county tabulates damages and decides whether to ask for a state disaster declaration.
If the county decides to request one, the county makes the request to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
He said ADEM reviews the request and makes a recommendation to the governor, and the governor declares the county a disaster area.
Morris said state damage "in total" will determine if Arkansas qualifies for additional assistance through a federal disaster declaration.