DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of Iowa counties eligible for help from the federal government for damage after an unusual wind storm is dwindling/ Iowa emergency management director Joyce Flinn on Thursday said nine of the 27 counties that originally had requested Federal Emergency Management Agency help for individuals with damage to homes or other private property have withdrawn their applications for federal assistance. Flinn said those counties didn’t appear to meet federal guidelines for the number of properties destroyed or with major damage. Assessments are nearly completed for the remaining 17 counties initially included in Reynolds’ request for federal individual disaster assistance.