WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania businesses and residents affected by flooding on Aug. 10-15 can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Linda McMahon announced this week.

McMahon made the loans available in response to a letter from Gov. Tom Wolf on Dec. 7 requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA.

The declaration covers Schuylkill county and the adjacent counties of Carbon, and Lehigh.

“The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of Pennsylvania with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans,” said McMahon. “Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”

Customer Service Representatives will be available at the Disaster Loan Outreach Centers to answer questions about the disaster loan program and help individuals complete their applications.

The center is located at the Port Carbon Borough Municipal Building, 301 First St., P.O. Box 71, Port Carbon. It will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. It will be closed Sunday.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes.

Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

Loan amount and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application via SBA’s website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.

Businesses and individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov.

Completed applications should be returned to the centers or mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Feb. 11. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Sept. 11.