Governor Abbott Announces SBA Assistance For Southeast Texas Tornadoes
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) approved his request for a disaster declaration for Southeast Texas communities impacted by severe weather and tornadoes in December. The declaration includes the following Texas counties: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, Waller, and Wharton.
“The State of Texas continues working to provide Texans in Southeast Texas available resources and support to recover from tornadoes in December,” said Governor Abbott. “With this disaster declaration, qualifying Texans will be able to access crucial financial assistance so they can rebuild homes and businesses from any damage caused by the tornadoes and severe weather. I thank the Texas Division of Emergency Management for working with our federal partners to ensure impacted Texans have the resources they need to move forward.”
The SBA granted access to its Home Disaster Loans, Business Physical Disaster Loans, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which will provide low-interest loans to qualifying homeowners, renters, and businesses in affected communities following the severe storms and tornadoes that occurred last month.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information, and download applications at sba.gov/disaster. 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. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to help support local communities impacted by the December severe storms and tornadoes, including:
- Activating state emergency response resources ahead of severe weather threats.
- Directing TDEM to work with local and federal partners to conduct joint preliminary damage assessments in impacted communities.
- Requesting an SBA disaster declaration once an analysis of damage was conducted.