Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved his request for a rural area disaster declaration for the severe storms and flooding that took place from April 26-June 5. Texas counties included in the declaration are Bosque, Delta, Grimes, and Madison. “This SBA disaster declaration will help Texans access the crucial financial assistance they need to continue to recover from severe storms and flooding that impacted Texas earlier this year,” said Governor Abbott. “Low-interest loans will be made available to qualifying Texans so they can restore their homes and businesses from storm or flooding damages. I thank the Texas Division of Emergency Management for working tirelessly to ensure impacted communities have the resources and assistance they need to move forward.” The SBA has granted access to its Home Disaster Loans, Business Physical Disaster Loans, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which will provide low-interest loans to qualifying homeowners, renters, and businesses in affected communities following the severe storms and flooding that occurred from April 26-June 5. Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information, and download applications at sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to help support local communities from the impacts of severe weather, including:
- Readying state emergency response resources on April 25 ahead of wildfire and severe weather threats.
- Issuing a disaster declaration on April 30 for counties affected by recent storms and deploying additional state emergency response resources in anticipation of severe weather and flooding. The Governor first amended his disaster declaration on May 2, updated it further on May 7, amended it again on May 15, added additional counties on May 20, made additional updates on May 26, added five counties on May 30, amended the declaration on June 5, and made an update on June 13.
- Increasing the readiness level of the State Emergency Operations Center to help support local officials with requests for state assistance.
- Holding a briefing on May 6 with local and state officials from impacted areas and providing an update on the state’s robust response efforts in support of local communities.
- Requesting a Federal Disaster Declaration on May 15 for Texas communities impacted by severe storms.
- Securing partial approval of a Federal Disaster Declaration on May 17 for areas of the state affected by severe weather.
- Requesting additional counties be added to the Federal Disaster Declaration on May 19 for Texas communities impacted by severe storms.
- Providing an update on the state’s response and recovery efforts in impacted communities.
- Securing additional approvals for Texas counties in the Federal Disaster Declaration.
- Ensuring additional impacted Texas counties were included in the Federal Disaster Declaration.
- Securing additional approvals in the Federal Disaster Declaration for Texas communities impacted by severe weather and flooding.
- Obtaining approvals for more counties on the Federal Disaster Declaration for impacted communities.
- Ensuring additional communities impacted by severe weather were added to the Federal Disaster Declaration.
- Acquiring approval for additional affected counties to be added to the Federal Disaster Declaration