LOWNDES CO – The U.S. Small Business Administration announces additional counties to the disaster declaration for Hurricane Helene.

Release:

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the addition of four primary counties and six adjacent counties to the disaster declaration for Hurricane Helene, giving more businesses and residents eligibility to apply for SBA’s low-interest disaster loan program. The SBA opened a Portable Loan Outreach Center in Valdosta to meet disaster survivors where they are. All SBA Centers will temporarily close on Monday, Oct. 14 in observance of Columbus Day.  The Centers will resume normal operations on Tuesday, Oct. 15.  

Customer Service Representatives from the SBA are at every FEMA Disaster Recovery Center as well as its three Centers in Georgia where survivors can get help with their SBA disaster loan application. SBA’s Customer Service Representatives can answer questions, help survivors complete their disaster loan application, accept documents, and provide updates on an application’s status. Walk-ins are accepted, but you can schedule an appointment in advance.  The hours of operation for the SBA Centers are as follows:

The disaster declaration covers Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, Montgomery, Newton, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Wheeler; which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs): Baldwin, Bleckley, Brantley, Habersham, Hart, Henry, Grady, Greene, Jasper, Lamar, Madison, McIntosh, Mitchell, Monroe, Morgan, Oglethorpe, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taliaferro, Towns, Turner, Twiggs, Walton, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson and Worth in Georgia; Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Madison and Nassau in Florida; Clay, Jackson, and Macon in North Carolina; and Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Barnwell, Edgefield, Hampton, Jasper, McCormick and Oconee in South Carolina. 

With the changes to FEMA’s Sequence of Delivery, survivors are now encouraged to simultaneously apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest disaster loan assistance to fully recover. FEMA grants are intended to cover necessary expenses and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources. The SBA disaster loan program is designed for your long-term recovery, to make you whole and get you back to your pre-disaster condition. Do not wait on the decision for a FEMA grant; apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster.

Applicants may also call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or send an email to 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.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Nov. 29, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 30, 2025.