The Small Business Administration announced it prepared to financially help some of the homeowners impacted from Hurricane Harvey.
The administration said it is ready to give out thousands of disaster recovery loans worth billions of dollars to rebuild Houston and other Harvey-hit areas, an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Andrea Ahles stated.
From the article:
Linda McMahon, the SBA administrator, said the agency has $3.3 billion in disaster loan funds to cover uninsured homeowners and businesses. The SBA is adding more loan processors at its Fort Worth office to handle incoming loan applications.
“The goal is to always do this as efficiently and effectively and timely as possible, but if you’re out of your home or you’re out of your business, nothing is ever fast enough.” McMahon said at a news conference Thursday at an office south of DFW Airport in Fort Worth. “We’d just like to assure those folks who are reaching out to us that we will do everything we can possible to expedite what we can to help you get back to the most normal way of life.”
The aid from the administration is much needed due to the billions of dollars of damage caused by the storm, and the low percentage of people who have flood insurance.
The hurricane is expected to cause flood damage of at least $35 billion, according to Robert Hunter, Consumer Federation of America director of insurance. While this is about the same level as Hurricane Katrina, most Louisiana homeowners had flood insurance, according to an article by Bernard Condon and Ken Sweet for USA Today.
Hunter estimates only about 20% of homeowners affected by Harvey have coverage, according to the article.
The Small Business Administration, according to the article, is ready to process 100,000 applications in 30 days. To apply for a loan from the SBA, check here.
