SBA Declares Flooding Disaster

The Small Business Administration's declaration Thursday of a for Essex County came sooner than expected.

Affected homeowners and business owners may qualify for long-term, low-interest loans.

The interest rate would be 2.5 percent for those without credit available elsewhere. The payback period can last up to 30 years.

Homeowners can borrow up to $200,000 for flood losses.

The SBA announced its declaration online.

Peter Judge of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said earlier that if a disaster was declared, the SBA would put in place an outreach program at a disaster recovery center.

Agency representatives will announce a time and place, through the media, for the center to open.  At the center, applicants can ask questions about applying for disaster-assistance loans.

Individuals may also apply now.

Here is some information from the SBA website about applying for a loan.

Applying For A Disaster Loan

SBA now offers you the option of filing your home and business disaster loan applications electronically. To file your disaster loan application online, please click here. You also have the option of submitting your application via mail.

You may also apply in person at any Disaster Recovery Center and receive personal, one-on-one help from an SBA representative. For information or to find a location near you, please contact our Customer Service Center. Call 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 1-800-877-8339) or e-mail disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

The declaration disaster also opens up economic-injury loans to small businesses and nonprofits.

Hundreds of Marblehead and Swampscott homes were slammed by flash flooding that struck early Oct. 4. Many homeowners' losses were not covered by flood insurance.

The main form of relief for them is the SBA loan program, local and state officials said.

FEMA disaster relief grants require a separate declaration that must satisfy a tougher threshold than the one SBA loans require.

To qualify for the FEMA grants, the county must have 500 homes that were left uninhabitable by the floods, MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said.

Judge said it is unlikely that Essex County will qualify.

FEMA has made no announcement on the relief determination. Typically they only announce a determination if a region qualifies for the aid, he said.

Last week, MEMA and U.S. Small Business Administration workers surveyed Essex County towns affected by last week’s flash flooding. They spent three days in Swampscott.

The teams examined businesses and residences to document the damage and determine if that level would qualify for SBA programs.