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SBA briefs Washington County on disaster loans and extended deadlines after Hurricane Helene
Summary
An SBA team lead told the board renters, homeowners, businesses and nonprofits may be eligible for low-interest disaster loans; applications can still be considered up to 60 days after the deadline and SBA will continue local outreach and virtual support.
Tim Watson, team lead for the U.S. Small Business Administration, told the Washington County Board of Supervisors that SBA disaster assistance remains available to residents and businesses affected by Hurricane Helene and that staff will continue outreach and application support.
Watson summarized the SBA’s main programs: physical-damage loans to renters (up to $100,000 for contents) and homeowners (up to $500,000 for structural damage, with an additional 20% available for mitigation), business and nonprofit physical-damage loans (up to $2,000,000), and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for working capital losses. He gave example interest-rate ranges and eligibility considerations, saying home loans’ lowest quoted rate showed roughly 2.813% to 5.625% depending on circumstances, and business physical-damage loans ranged from about 4% to 8%.
Addressing county questions, Watson said SBA had staffed on-site centers in Damascus through early December and maintains a business recovery center in Galax; he recommended that people apply even if they are undecided because an approved, unused loan can be held for months. Watson said some late applications can be accepted up to 60 days after a published deadline if applicants provide an explanation and that SBA will work with applicants whose initial applications have been declined to clarify issues.
Board members asked about typical approval timelines; Watson said turnaround times vary but that the fastest he had seen for a complete application was two weeks. He also committed to providing the county written clarifications about deadlines and to coordinate webinars and social-media outreach with county staff to make the application rules clear to residents.
The board thanked the SBA for continuing local support and asked staff to share the SBA contact information and guidance with county residents.
