Governor Wolf Announces Low Interest Federal Loans Now Available for Those Affected by Ida’s Leftovers

Governor Tom Wolf reminds Pennsylvanians affected by the remnants of Hurricane Ida that caused extensive damage (August 31 – September 5) that the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) has made financial assistance available to survivors.

“Individuals and businesses are still recovering from the devastating damage caused by Storm Ida, but additional help is now available through the SBA,” Governor Wolf said. “I am grateful that the SBA is providing much-needed assistance and I urge affected Pennsylvanians to make informed choices as they embark on their journey to recovery.”

Residents and businesses in Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and York counties are eligible for physical disaster loans. In addition, economic disaster loans are available in Adams, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lehigh, Monroe and Somerset counties.

Low-interest loans of up to $ 200,000 are available to homeowners and tenants to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, and SBA regulations also allow loans up to $ 40,000. to repair or replace damaged personal property, including vehicles. Businesses and nonprofits can borrow up to $ 2 million to restore damaged or destroyed buildings, inventory, equipment, and other physical losses. Economic disaster loans are also available and can also be used to pay fixed debts, salaries, accounts payable and other bills that cannot be paid due to the impact of the disaster, which the whether or not the company suffered physical damage from the storm.

The SBA offers long-term repayment options to keep payments affordable, with terms of up to 30 years. The conditions are determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the repayment capacity of each borrower.

“I encourage survivors to take the opportunity to apply for additional loan funds for mitigation (protection enhancements) to prevent similar damage from occurring in the future,” said Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). “SBA disaster loans can increase their physical damage by up to 20%, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Qualifying mitigation upgrades may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain, retaining wall, or elevation.

Businesses and residents do not need to wait for insurance settlements to apply for disaster loans and can get information and loan requests immediately by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard of hearing-of-hearing), or by sending an email to [email protected].

Applicants can also apply online using Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via The SBA secure site or visit one of the SBA disaster recovery centers. Alternatively, loan applications can be downloaded from sba.gov/catastrophe and completed applications should be sent to: US Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The SBA has created a number of fact sheets to help applicants understand the SBA loan process:

The filing deadline for returning property damage claims is November 9, 2021. The deadline for returning economic disaster loan claims is June 10, 2022.