Flood victims look for aid, SBA loans
Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
On its first day in service, the Disaster Recovery Center operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Ledger was filled with flood victims looking for help.
The center is staffed with FEMA employees who assist those affected by Hurricane Helene fill out applications for assistance.
Charlie, the task force leader, said staffers at the center go by their first names only to protect their personal security.
“This is where people that have had damage to their home, vehicle or personal property, or any loss of any basic need — we call them emergency, immediate needs — they can come over here and they can apply for FEMA,” Charlie said.
New applications & old
FEMA aid applications can be filled out on the internet, but the center offers assistance in making sure forms are filled out correctly. Not only can those affected by the storm fill out new applications at the center, they can also have a staffer review an existing application to make sure no essential information was left out.
The task force leader said that even with experience and training, FEMA staffers typically take 40 minutes to fill out an application. For ordinary citizens who have never seen one of the forms before it could take longer, and mistakes could be made in entering information.
Homeowners should bring both proof of ownership and proof of occupancy, to demonstrate that their home was the place they were residing at the time of the disaster. Also, applicants should bring all relevant insurance information.
“They have to submit an insurance settlement, letting us know what’s covered and what’s not covered by insurance, or an insurance denial letter saying that they are not covered,” Charlie said. “What’s not covered by insurance, that’s where FEMA steps in.”
Charlie said that the center can continue helping applicants down the road as well.
“If they get denied, we will show them how to appeal,” he said. “That’s not the final decision.”
Renters may also be eligible for aid, if they are displaced or the home they are renting was damaged.
J.D. and Joyce Hoffman came to the center the day it opened to apply for assistance. They live in Bakersville and lost a bridge accessing their home, plus their basement and furnace flooded.
“We’re blessed,” Mrs. Hoffman said. “We’re surviving.”
The Hoffmans said speaking with the staff at the center was helpful in filling out their application.
SBA loans to homeowners, renters
The Ledger center is also a place where survivors can apply for loans from the Small Business Administration. SBA Public Affairs Specialist John Oliver Frederick said SBA loans have the same Nov. 27 deadline as FEMA grants.
“We are in the center with FEMA so the deadlines are going to run parallel,” Frederick said.
Although the name of the SBA might lead applicants to assume the loans available are for entrepreneurs only, Frederick said that is not the case.
“Most of the loans are going to homeowners and renters,” he said.
SBA loans are offered to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit organizations.
If storm survivors are uneasy about repaying the loans, they can choose to apply only for what they anticipate being able to repay in the next year and may in that case avoid having to pay any interest at all.
“Sometimes loans can be a bad word but use this as a safety net — because there’s no payment or interest for the first 12 months,” he said. “We have probably about $6 million in approvals already. We can get the money to you faster than the insurance companies often, so I encourage people to apply.”
Frederick said interest rates for these loans can be as low as 2.8 percent for homeowners and 4 percent for businesses, and repayment terms can last as long as 30 years.
“The loan is designed for people that have no insurance or are under-insured,” Frederick said. “But we won’t duplicate benefits.”
If an insurance payment is slow to come, survivors could be eligible for an SBA loan at the moment; however, once that insurance payout comes they may need to pay the loan back more quickly than originally required in order to avoid a duplication of benefits.
“They can use the insurance money to pay off the loan,” Frederick said. “They have to report FEMA [aid], insurance [payouts] to us.”
For more information about SBA benefits call (800) 659-2955.