Tornado Assistance Available to Residents of Panola County | New
Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available for businesses and residents affected by tornadoes and storms that hit March 27, the Small Business Administration said this week.
The SBA declared a disaster in response to a request from Governor Greg Abbott, which means SBA assistance is available to residents of Rusk, Panola, Harrison and Shelby counties in Texas and the parishes of Caddo and DeSoto in Louisiana.
The deadline to submit a claim for property damage is July 26, 2021 and the deadline to submit a claim for economic damage is February 28, 2022.
Completed applications should be mailed to US Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Virtual recovery centers opened this week, with both a virtual enterprise recovery center for business owners and a virtual disaster loan awareness center for homeowners and tenants, to explain the disaster loan program and help people fill out applications.
The Virtual Business Recovery Center and the Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center are both open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Send an email to [email protected] or call (800) 659-2955. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can call (800) 877-8339.
Businesses and nonprofits can borrow up to $ 2 million to repair or replace real estate, machinery and equipment, as well as inventory or other business assets. The SBA also lends money to businesses and homeowners to help protect or prevent similar disasters from happening in the future.
Homeowners can apply for disaster loans of up to $ 200,000 to repair or replace damaged real estate, and owners and tenants are entitled to up to $ 40,000 to repair or replace damaged personal property.
The SBA also offers Economic Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster, whether or not a business has suffered property damage.
Interest rates can be as low as 3% for businesses, 2% for private nonprofits, and 1.25% for landlords and tenants with terms of up to 30 years. The amounts and terms of the loan are set by the SBA and are based on the financial status of each applicant.
“The SBA is strongly committed to providing Texas with the most effective, customer-centric response possible, and we will be there to provide access to federal disaster loans to help fund business and corporate recovery. residents affected by the disaster, ”said administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. . “Getting our businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our top priority at SBA. “