The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding businesses, nonprofits, and residents in Texas to apply for federal disaster loans by May 19. These loans aim to mitigate damages from thunderstorms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes that occurred on March 4. The affected counties are Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall, and Tarrant.
Businesses and nonprofits can apply for business physical disaster loans, borrowing up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate and business assets. Homeowners and renters can apply for home and personal property loans, borrowing up to $100,000 for personal property and up to $500,000 for primary residence repairs.
Applicants may be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation efforts. Improvements could include upgrading to wind-resistant garage doors and installing storm shelters. Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA, noted, “One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage.”
The SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is open to eligible small businesses, agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and private nonprofit organizations impacted financially by the disaster. Loans are unavailable to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except aquaculture enterprises.
Interest rates can be as low as 4% for businesses, 3.625% for nonprofits, and 2.75% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months after the first loan disbursement. Loan amounts and terms depend on the applicant’s financial condition.
Applications can be submitted online at sba.gov/disaster. Assistance is available through SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or via disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Individuals with hearing or speech disabilities can access services through telecommunications relay services by dialing 7-1-1.
The deadline for physical damage applications is May 19, while the deadline for economic injury applications is December 19.