If your small business has suffered substantial economic injury, regardless of physical damage, and is located in a declared disaster area, you may be eligible for financial assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that have suffered substantial economic injury resulting from a physical disaster or an agricultural production disaster designated by the Secretary of Agriculture may be eligible for the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. Substantial economic injury is the inability of a business to meet its obligations as they mature and to pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses.
An EIDL can help you meet necessary financial obligations that your business could have met had the disaster not occurred. It provides relief from economic injury caused directly by the disaster and permits you to maintain a reasonable working capital position during the period affected by the disaster.
The SBA provides EIDL assistance only to those businesses we determine are unable to obtain credit elsewhere. The SBA can provide up to $1.5 million in disaster assistance to a business. This loan cap includes both economic injury and physical damage assistance. Your loan amount will be based on your actual economic injury and financial needs.
The interest rate on EIDLs cannot exceed 4 percent per year. The term of these loans cannot exceed 30 years. Your term will be determined by your ability to repay the loan. (See SBA publication No. DA-2, Physical Disaster Business Loans.)
Frequently Asked Questions about Economic Injury Disaster Loans
More about managing a disaster:
Disaster Management Introduction
Disaster Preparation
Disaster Loans
Information courtesy of the Small Business Administration.
