Dayton seeks federal loans to help with tornado recovery

Updated: July 5, 2011 - 9:33 PM

After appeal for individual aid assistance from FEMA is denied, governor requests SBA declaration

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Four days after denial of his request for individual assistance to recover from the May 22 Twin Cities tornado, Gov. Mark Dayton went back to the federal government Tuesday to ask for low-interest loans for small businesses.

During the preliminary damage inspection in Hennepin and Anoka counties May 26 and 27, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Minnesota Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management identified more than 100 uninhabitable homes and 47 businesses with major damage.

SBA makes disaster declarations independently of FEMA. Once a disaster is declared, the SBA provides low-interest loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit organizations to recover. Home and personal property loans, business physical disaster loans and economic injury disaster loans are offered.

In a letter to the SBA, Dayton wrote, "There are at least 25 homes, or 25 businesses, or a combination thereof" that sustained uninsured losses of 40 percent or more of the estimated fair market replacement value or pre-disaster fair market value of the damaged property.

The last time Minnesota received a disaster declaration from the SBA was last September for severe storms and flooding in Martin, Olmsted, Steele and Wabasha counties.

TASNIM SHAMMA