Berrien County businesses and families impacted by last month’s severe flooding along the St. Joseph River might be one step closer to assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Gov. Rick Snyder has renewed his push for a formal disaster declaration by that unit to trigger that assistance.
Snyder says that the SBA has completed its recent damage assessments in the region and he has officially renewed his pitch for an official SBA Disaster Declaration for Berrien, Arenac, Ingham and Kalamazoo Counties which were all hard hit by the severe flooding in February.
If approved, the SBA disaster assistance program would make low-interest loans available to eligible residents and businesses in those four counties and the neighboring counties of Allegan, Barry, Bay, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Clinton, Eaton, Gladwin, Iosco, Jackson, Livingston, Ogemaw, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Van Buren and Washtenaw.
Snyder says, “We are making every effort to assist our communities as they continue to recover from last month’s floods,” and adds, “We’re hopeful the SBA will grant our request for assistance to help Michiganders repair their damaged homes and replace personal property.”
Based on information provided by the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division (MSP/EMHSD), state officials requested representatives of the SBA to conduct a preliminary damage assessment of the affected area to document damage to homes and businesses that sustained uninsured losses of 40 percent or more. That assessment was conducted from March 16th through the 20th.
The SBA disaster assistance program provides low-interest disaster loans for uninsured losses incurred by businesses, homeowners, renters, and nonprofit organizations to repair or replace real estate, personal property, machinery and equipment, inventory and business assets that have been damaged or destroyed. The SBA tailors the repayment of each disaster loan to the borrower’s financial capability.
Additional information about the SBA disaster assistance program is available at www.sba.gov.
Snyder declared a state of disaster on March 12th for 17 counties (including Berrien) and two cities after heavy rainfall and snow melt on February 19-21 resulted in widespread flooding damage, making state aid and financial assistance available to communities in the disaster area.
