Disaster Declaration Brings Aid For S. Florida Flood Victims
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - Victims of October's flooding in Broward County will be getting the chance for extra help from the feds, after the Small Business Administration approved Tuesday a state request for a Disaster Declaration.
That means victims of the flooding between October 28th and 31st in Broward County can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the SBA immediately. The declaration was extended to cover flooding victims in Miami-Dade county, Palm Beach county, Collier county, and Hendry county.
Residents who qualify can get up to $200 thousand to fix property or real-estate, for residential or business property. This is especially important for those victims who did not have flood insurance, because most property insurance does not cover flooding.
If property owners or renters lost personal property, they may be eligible for up to $40 thousand to cover their loss.
The SBA offers a number of other loan programs for individuals and businesses, and can help people figure out the best program to request.
The interest rates range from just over 2 percent to 4 percent, and the SBA offers up to 30 years to repay the loan.
Flood victims who need a loan need to move quickly. The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is January 13, 2012. The deadline to return economic injury applications is August 14, 2012.
Those interested in applying for a loan may do so online at:
https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/login.aspx
Those who prefer to apply in person may do so in Ft. Lauderdale, at the only in-person application point in South Florida:
Broward County
Mills Pond Park Community Center
2201 NW 9th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale
The center is open every day but Sunday until Wednesday, November 23rd. It opens at 9 AM Each day but closing times vary by day.
Information on loan applications by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 TDD) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov.
