NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration has run out of money for its disaster assistance loans, delaying much needed relief for people applying for aid in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to businesses and people affected by disasters. The organization said earlier said it expected to run out of funding by the end of the month. Congress can approve more funds, but doesn’t reconvene until Nov. 12.
The SBA is pausing new loan offers until it gets more funding, which means loans that have not already been offered will be delayed by at least a month. SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said people should keep applying for the loans, however.
The SBA’s loan application portal remains open, the agency’s disaster centers and in-person staff remain deployed across the country, and it will continue to accept new applications and ready borrowers to get their disaster loan offers as soon as possible once Congress appropriates funds.
So far, the SBA has seen around 37,000 applications for relief submitted from those impacted by Hurricane Helene and 12,000 applications for those impacted by Hurricane Milton. So far, the SBA has made more than 700 Helene loan offers totaling about $48 million.