SBA has approved nearly $5.4M for tornado victims

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Jul. 11--As of Thursday, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved $5,384,500 in loans for Ohio businesses and homes impacted by the Memorial Day tornadoes.

So far, the SBA has received 800 loan applications statewide, SBA spokeswoman Dorris Evans said.

Though the SBA was not able to provide the amount of SBA loans by county, that's the latest loan total from one of the federal agencies responding to damage from the May 27 spate of tornadoes.

Those numbers are up from earlier this week, when SBA spokespeople said the agency had approved $2,291,500 total for loans across Ohio. At that time, 316 loan applications were still being processed, said Matthew Young, an SBA spokesman.

More than 15 confirmed tornadoes struck the Dayton region and parts of West Central Ohio late on the evening of Memorial Day, destroying or seriously damaging 2,200 structures in Montgomery County alone, according to data provided late last month by Montgomery County.

In Trotwood, 1,144 structures -- most of them homes -- where left unusable. In Harrison Twp., 774 residential and commercial structures were either destroyed or sustained major damage.

"We try not to compare disasters because they're all different," Young told the Dayton Daily News. "And they're all so different, because they affect different areas, they affect different economic groups of people, depending on where they hit. Some are bigger, some are smaller."

"We just want people to apply, apply, apply," said Julie Garrett, an SBA spokeswoman working in the Dayton area since June.

SBA low-interest loans are available to not just businesses, but homeowners and renters.

SBA loans often cover items not covered by insurance, such as residential and business fencing, decks, driveways, landscaping, debris removal, sheds and more.

SBA's Business Recovery Centers are offices where anyone can apply for an SBA disaster loan, including homeowners and renters.

Locally, the offices can be found at the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce, 3210 Beaver Vu Drive, and the Harrison Township Community Center, 5945 N. Dixie Drive, Dayton. Both centers are open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The first thing people need to do is register with FEMA. The deadline to apply is Aug. 19.

To start the process online: To register with FEMA, disasterassistance.gov. If they're referred to the SBA, then they should begin the application process at disasterloan.sba.gov.

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