FEMA and SBA urge Lee County residents to apply for disaster aid before Dec. 2 deadline
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Summary
FEMA Region 3 and the Small Business Administration briefed the Lee County Board of Supervisors on local recovery options after Tropical Storm Helene, stressing a Dec. 2 deadline for individual assistance and outlining SBA loan terms for homeowners and businesses.
Carly Janiszewski, an Intergovernmental Affairs representative with FEMA Region 3, told the Lee County Board of Supervisors that the deadline to apply for Individual Assistance is Dec. 2 and urged residents who suffered damage in the recent storm to submit applications before that date.
"The deadline for individual assistance applications is December 2," Janiszewski said, adding that Disaster Survivor Assistance teams have been visiting neighborhoods and that a nearby Disaster Recovery Center in Scott County remains available for in-person help. She pointed residents to disasterassistance.gov and said FEMA has flyers and an app to guide applicants.
Jim Kurso, a public affairs specialist with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, described SBA options for homeowners, renters and businesses. "We offer home physical-damage loans for homeowners up to $500,000 for damage to the structure and $100,000 for damage to contents," Kurso said. He said business physical-damage loans carry a cap of $2 million and interest rates near 4% or less; terms can be 7, 15 or 30 years.
Kurso emphasized that SBA’s economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) have a later deadline (July 1, 2025) to allow businesses time to document losses, while the SBA physical and many FEMA services share the Dec. 2 deadline. Both agency representatives encouraged anyone with questions or incomplete applications to visit the recovery centers, call the agency phone lines, or contact county staff for help.
The briefings closed with county officials asking how many local applications had been submitted; participants noted dozens of housing and hundreds of agricultural claims in the region and thanked FEMA and SBA staff for on-the-ground outreach.
Next steps: Residents seeking help should check disasterassistance.gov, call the FEMA/SBA numbers provided, or visit the local Disaster Recovery Center for in-person assistance before the Dec. 2 individual-assistance cutoff.