SBA offers disaster assistance in Frederick County.
Annapolis, Md (KM) Governor Larry Hogan has requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Frederick and Washington Counties following the flooding from May 15-19, 2018. “The flooding in Frederick County and Washington County severely impacted residents, businesses and infrastructure in the area,” the Governor said in a statement. “I have requested the disaster declaration in order to facilitate federal assistance to the counties that were affected by the storm in mid-May.”
This request comes after the Maryland Emergency Management Agency conducted damage assessments with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in both Frederick and Washington Counties. “MEMA and FEMA worked closely with our partners in the affected jurisdictions and we jointly assessed the damages and costs incurred,” says Russ Strickland, MEMA Executive Director, in a statement. “Our initial estimates have validated the devastating impact of the heavy rainfall, severe storms and flooding.”
If the federal government issues a disaster declaration, federal assistance would be made available.
In the meantime, the US Small Business Administration has declared a physical disaster declaration for Frederick County following the flooding which began May 15th. This allows for businesses, homeowners and renters to apply for low interest loans to repair damages. People who live in the adjacent counties of Carroll, Montgomery, Howard and Washington are also eligible to apply.
“Frederick County residents and businesses can benefit from the SBA loan program in large part because of citizens’ willingness to complete our damage assessment survey,” says Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner, in a statement. “Information gathered from the surveys allowed the Division of Emergency Management and our state and federal partners to determine the scope of the damage caused by heavy May rains.”
The SBA will hold a Disaster Loan Outreach Center at the Public Safety Training Facility, 5370 Public Safety Place in Frederick, from Monday, June 25th through Saturday, June 30th. The hours will be from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The Pubic Safety Training Facility is located off of Reichs Ford Road.
A similar center will be in operation in Washington County from Tuesday, June 19th , through Tuesday, June 26th from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM at the Sharpsburg Fire Department at 110 West Chapline Street in Sharpsburg. The hours on Saturday, June 23rd will be from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. The center will be closed on Sunday.
Residents do not need to show up in person to apply for the loans. They can go on line to https://disasterloan.sba.gov, or call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (TTY/TTD 1-800-877-8339). Citizens can also e-mail their applications to [email protected]. Applications will be accepted through August 13th, 2018.
For information or referrals, residents can all the Flooding Disaster Hotline at 1-888-756-7836.
By Kevin McManus