After being rebuffed twice by FEMA, Virginia’s governor has turned to the U.S. Small Business Administration for aid to homeowners left out to dry from summer floods.
The move is the latest in a string of appeals for federal aid following the unprecedented storms, which caused millions in uninsured property damage throughout the state. Especially devastated was Fairfax County’s Huntington community, where at one point about 150 homes were declared unfit to live in.
“I think it is the least we can do, is try to get any type of assistance available for the people in Huntington and elsewhere in Virginia, in light of FEMA’s intransigence,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Hyland.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency in late July denied Governor Timothy Kaine’s request to open up federal loans and grants to individual Virginians, and on Friday turned down his appeal of that decision. The agency said it based the denial on the ability of local governments to handle the recovery effort.
FEMA did, however, agree to reimburse counties and towns for their infrastructure repairs.
Kaine’s request to the SBA on Tuesday would open up the same low-interest loans that would have been available had FEMA granted his original request, said Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokesman Marc LaFountain. He said the SBA, however, cannot make grants available.
“For some, [the loans] may get them some relief,” Hyland said. “But for many, they just plain needs grant assistance in order to get past a very difficult time.”
The interest rates of the loans vary by applicant, but are typically between 2 percent and 4 percent, LaFountain said.
