MERCER COUNTY, WV (WOAY)- Tropical storm Helene ripped its way through the south in late September 2024, leaving devastation in its wake. After Helene hit our area, Mercer and Tazewell counties had disaster declarations made for those areas.
The US Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans to help those affected. For those in Mercer and Tazewell, SBA has physical damage loans that can cover a variety of things.
“Renters can qualify for up to $100,000 for the interior contents of their homes. Also qualifying for vehicular damage. They may have occurred in the process of the storm itself. We also assessed the homeowner for up to $500,000 for the damages to the physical property of the home,” explained Timothy Watson, U.S. Small Business Administration. “If they are approved for whatever amount, they get an additional 20% for mitigation purposes to be more resilient to a future storm. The business and nonprofit have an amount of up to $2 million now that qualifies them for not only physical damages to the property but also inventory, machinery, or equipment that may have been damaged.”
They also have economic injury disaster loans that are not exclusive to Mercer and Tazewell. The in surrounding areas like McDowell, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming counties could apply for these loans. These loans are to help businesses and nonprofits meet the normal financial obligations that they couldn’t otherwise do as a result of the disaster.
Watson from SBA explains more ways you can get these loans.
“They will go online to the sba.gov/disaster to apply for all loans, and they will go through the process of making sure that they register,” said Watson. “So first, finding out what state they’re in, what county they’re in, and also what disaster declaration it is. We also have an opportunity to speak to someone at 1-800-659-2955, which is our customer service number. We also have a disastercustomerservice.gov number that people can utilize and they can also go into our disaster recovery centers.”
The application deadline for physical property damage is February 7th, and economic injury applications are due by September 9th.
sba.gov/disaster
1-800-659-2955
