Two new federal disaster declarations open low-interest SBA loans to homeowners and businesses in parts of Florida and Texas. The first deadline is Dec. 28.
The Small Business Administration filed both notices on Tuesday for publication in Wednesday's Federal Register. One covers Hurricane Isaias damage across the Florida Panhandle, the other the summer storms and flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
Florida: Hurricane Isaias
The declaration follows the president's major disaster declaration of Oct. 27 for FEMA-4955-DR, covering damage from Oct. 6 through Oct. 12.
Physical damage loans are open to applicants in Bay, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties. Economic injury loans reach further, into Calhoun, Franklin, Jackson and Liberty counties in Florida and into Baldwin, Covington, Escambia and Geneva counties in Alabama.
The deadline for a physical damage application is Dec. 28, 2026. Economic injury applications run until July 27, 2027. The SBA filed it as declaration #22033 and #22034, Florida disaster number FL-20045.
Texas: the summer storms and flooding
The Texas declaration covers FEMA-4935-DR, issued Oct. 30, for severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding between July 7 and Aug. 4.
Twenty counties qualify for both physical damage and economic injury loans: Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Crockett, Dimmit, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Medina, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala. Twenty more are eligible for economic injury loans only, including Hays, Guadalupe, Blanco, Llano and Tom Green.
Physical damage applications close Dec. 30, 2026. Economic injury applications close July 30, 2027. The SBA filed it as declaration #22044 and #22045, Texas disaster number TX-20085.
What the loans cost
An economic injury loan is for working capital, meant for a business or nonprofit that lost revenue because of the disaster even if nothing on the property broke. A physical damage loan pays to repair or replace what did. Rates for both depend on who is borrowing and on whether the SBA decides the applicant has credit available elsewhere, the agency's term for access to other financing.
| Borrower | Florida | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Homeowner with credit available elsewhere | 6.000% | 5.750% |
| Homeowner without credit available elsewhere | 3.000% | 2.875% |
| Business with credit available elsewhere | 8.000% | 8.000% |
| Business without credit available elsewhere | 4.000% | 4.000% |
| Nonprofit organization | 3.625% | 3.625% |
| Economic injury, business or agricultural cooperative | 4.000% | 4.000% |
A homeowner the SBA judges able to borrow elsewhere pays roughly double the rate of one it judges cannot, which in Florida is 6.000% against 3.000%.
Applications go through the MySBA Loan Portal at lending.sba.gov. The agency's disaster customer service line is 1-800-659-2955, and the email address is [email protected]. Callers who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability can dial 7-1-1 for relay service.
A third notice, also filed Tuesday, covers public assistance in 15 Florida counties under the same FEMA declaration. It opens loans to private nonprofit organizations that provide services of a governmental nature, at 3.625%, rather than to households. The counties are Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton and Washington.
