Georgia businesses and residents affected by flooding on Sept. 3-4, 2022, are eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The declaration covers the counties of Chattooga, Floyd and Walker in Georgia and Cherokee and DeKalb in Alabama.

To assist businesses and residents affected by the disaster, the SBA will open a Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) at 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Chattooga County EMA/E-911 Center, 170 Farrar Drive in Summerville. The DLOC will be open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The DLOC will close on January 26.

Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.

Interest rates are as low as 3.04% for businesses, 1.875% for nonprofit organizations, and 2.188% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application via SBA’s secure website and should apply under SBA declaration # 17751.

Disaster loan information and application forms can also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services) or sending an email to DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded from sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is March 10, 2023. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Oct 9, 2023.