US Small Business Administration offers disaster aid to flood victims

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A month after a devastating flood, Winston County Residents are still in recovery mode and looking for help.

Those in need were able to start the process of getting some help through the Small Business Administration.

SBA is giving eligible people and businesses in Winston County and adjacent counties of Attala, Choctaw, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha the chance to apply for low-interest disaster loans.

Long-term recovery group Winston Strong and MEMA are working together to ensure Winston County residents get all available assistance after dangerous flood waters cover much of the area.

The U.S. Small Business Administration was in Louisville to offer help to people in Winston County and surrounding areas.

Angel Class is the Public Affairs Specialist for SBA. He said they are looking to help home and business owners.

“We’re trying to assess the survivors in this area We are also going to cover businesses as well as homeowners and renters. The way it works is with a loan but a very low-interest loan,” said Class.

Class said eligible homeowners can get an interest rate of 2.5%.

Businesses can get loans at 4%.

“These loans are fixed they are straight through the federal government and they start paying the loan 12 months after their first disbursement,” said Class.

Executive Director for Winston Strong, Mike Dowd says the organization is still waiting on several disaster funds.

So far, they have been able to start putting a sub-committee together and assess home damage.

“We are obviously still in recovery. We are still demoing houses and some of them we have to do some cleaning in and some of them we’ve got to work for mold remission because it’s not safe to send volunteers in where there is a lot of molds,” said Dowd.

Dowd said it’s important for anyone who has suffered damage to see if they qualify for an SBA loan.

“If people think they can get some assistance please come in and check it out. This is the type of thing you may be eligible and you didn’t realize it. All you can do is not qualify but you won’t know until you come in so we request all people come in if you have suffered damage during that flood event come in and see if SBA can help you,” said Dowd.

The small business administration will be set up at the courthouse annex until August 30th

Small Business Administration members will assist with online application forms that will be processed immediately.

To find out more information, visit smallbusinessadministration

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