Governor Abbott Announces SBA Assistance For Perryton Tornado
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that his request for a disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has been approved for residents in Ochiltree County affected by the severe weather and tornado that occurred on June 15 in Perryton. Neighboring Hansford, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, and Roberts counties are also included in the approved disaster declaration.
“Texans in Ochiltree County and surrounding counties will now receive the financial assistance needed to continue recovering and rebuilding from the severe weather that impacted their communities earlier this summer,” said Governor Abbott. “With this disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Texans will have access to crucial low-interest loans to help rebuild their homes and businesses from storm damage. I thank the Texas Division of Emergency Management for working with our federal partners to ensure that impacted Texans and communities have the resources and assistance they need to move forward.”
At the request of Governor Abbott, the SBA granted access to its Physical Disaster Loan program for homes and businesses, as well as its Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Local, state, and federal officials conducted an analysis of damage sustained in impacted communities, which verified that Ochiltree County met the federally-required thresholds for SBA assistance. Officials also reviewed disaster damage information self-reported by Texans through Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) surveys.
SBA loan applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information, and download applications at disasterloanassistance.sba.gov. 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.
This is the latest action in Texas' efforts to respond to severe storm impacts:
- Last week, Governor Abbott requested an SBA declaration following an exhaustive attempt by the State of Texas to determine whether the significant damage caused by the tornado reached the threshold for a Presidential Disaster Declaration.
- In July, Governor Abbott requested an extension of the deadline to submit a Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government. The 30-day extension allowed for impacted Texans to report damage using iSTAT surveys and allowed for local and state partners to gather additional expenditure information from response and recovery efforts.
- On June 22, the Governor directed TDEM to request Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments with local, state, and federal partners.
- The Governor deployed additional assets on June 21 to support local response and recovery efforts in Perryton.
- Governor Abbott held a briefing with state and local officials in Perryton on June 17 and provided an update on state response following the deadly tornado in the Panhandle.
- On June 16, the Governor issued a disaster declaration for Texas communities impacted by severe storms and tornadoes that caused significant damage to homes and businesses in Ochiltree and Cass counties.
- On June 15, Governor Abbott directed TDEM to deploy state emergency response assets to the City of Perryton immediately following the devastating tornado in Northwest Texas.