Small businesses and private nonprofit organizations impacted by Florida’s seasonal drought in April are being urged to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans to help deal with losses.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has set Jan. 5 as the deadline for the drought relief applications. The drought was so severe in April that there was a federal disaster declaration in more than a dozen Florida counties, including, Alachua, Brevard, Flagler, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.
The Florida Climate Center at Florida State University found that 17% of the state was in “extreme drought” in April. Another 30% of the state was in “severe drought” at the time.
“Many locations in the Peninsula saw one of their top 5 driest Aprils on record, including Gainesville (3rd-driest), Daytona Beach (2nd-driest), Titusville (2nd-driest), Melbourne (2nd-driest), Venice (2nd-driest), Vero Beach (4th-driest), Naples (3rd-driest), and West Palm Beach (4th-driest),” concluded the Climate Center report on April’s drought conditions.
The SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is being made available to businesses, nonprofits, small agricultural cooperatives and nurseries that can show direct financial loss caused by that event. The SBA points out that the agency is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers, with the exception of aquaculture businesses.
“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”
The EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster. Even if there was no physical damage, some of the loans are still accessible. The loans are designed to help small-business owners pay debts, payroll, accounts payable and other debt accrued during the disaster.
