The Small Business Administration (SBA) has run out of money for its disaster assistance loans, delaying much needed relief for people applying for aid following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the government agency announced Tuesday.
In a press release, the SBA said that the funds were “exhausted” following “increased demand from Hurricane Helene.”
The agency noted that its loan application protal remains open as well as its disaster centers across the country remain staffed.
“Disaster survivors should start the application process immediately, regardless of SBA funding availability, so that our disaster teams can take them through the application process and position eligible applicants to receive offers and funds,” the SBA said.
“We know that swift financial relief can help communities recover quickly to stabilize local economies,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said. “While we await Congress to provide much-needed funding, we strongly encourage eligible businesses and households to apply for SBA disaster loans.
“SBA will continue to support homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits in processing their applications to ensure they receive assistance quickly once funds are replenished.”
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Earlier in the month, Biden sent a letter to Congress, sounding the alarm that the SBA “will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene.”
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“As leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone in communities ravaged by natural disasters will have the Federal resources they need and deserve to respond to and recover from deadly storms and other natural disasters,” Biden said.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pushed back on Biden’s assertion that the responsibility fell on Congress, saying that the Biden/Harris administration was “scrambling.”
“They are scrambling to cover their egregious errors and mistakes. And there’s an effort to blame others or blame circumstances when this is just purely a lack of leadership and response,” Johnson said in a previous interview with Fox News Digital.
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He noted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in July that FEMA was “tremendously prepared” for weather crises this year.
Since Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the SBA has seen about 49,000 applications for relief submitted. Hurricane Helene had 37,000 applicants, while Hurricane Milton saw 12,000.
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So far, the SBA has made more than 700 Helene loan offers totaling about $48 million.
The agency said that they can make disaster loans up to $500,000 to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate.
Homeowners and renters may be eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property, and businesses may be eligible for loans up to $2 million for both physical damage and economic injury from business disruption.
The SBA said that interest rates are as low as 2.813% for homeowners and renters, 3.25% for nonprofit organizations and 4% for businesses – with terms up to 30 years.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, Johnson and the SBA for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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