When there is a federally declared disaster.

One of the first groups on the ground is the Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance.

It offers low interest loans to small businesses, as well as homeowners and renters who need financial help to recover after a natural disaster.

Our Mackenzie Bank tells us how these loans impacted a Kentuckian who lived through the deadly tornado that hit the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in Laurel County.

The electric went off and it got.

Then you hear a roar starting.

So I went and joined her in the closet, and she was behind me and I was sitting in front of her.

Then the storm hit.

It was a deafening noise.

I mean, it is, Buster.

Your eardrums and you can hear glass breaking in the house coming apart, and it was trying to take us with it.

Now, over five months later, Scott Stauffer and his wife are the only people still living on their street in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood.

Like many of their neighbors, their house was torn apart by the tornado.

Their homeowner's insurance covered the repairs to the home, but Stover's truck was a lost cause.

I had a, a Ford Platinum truck, and it put a board through the motor and it ripped off the whole side of the truck.

I mean, it it destroyed it.

Stoffer travels across the state for work, and after a family member heard about the Small Business Administration through the London City Council, Stoffer decided to apply for one of its disaster assistance loans to replace his truck.

The Small Business Administration's disaster assistance team has been present in the state since the devastating floods back in February.

Despite the name of the organization, a majority of the disaster loans they offer are to assist homeowners and renters.

All of the loans that we offer are funded by the U.S.

Treasury, and these are disaster loans, that are that are targeted in the specific counties and available to the residents of those counties that are affected by the storms.

The loans offered to survivors of the May 16th tornado in Laurel and Pulaski counties totaled over $12 million of assistance.

And over 90% of the loans were awarded to homeowners.

These disaster assistance loans have lower interest rates, which can make a huge difference for homeowners trying to put their lives back together after a disaster.

They're very low interest rates.

They're 4% and less.

And if and once they get all of their paperwork in to us, we're going to look to see, and they sign their closing documents.

We're going to look to get that first payment of up to $25,000 in their bank account within five working days.

We asked for a little over 13,000 something like that, and we got approved.

And and I highly recommend anybody that's not got that loan.

They ought to look into it because you don't have to pay it back for you.

And the interest rate was 2.92.3.

It was ridiculously low.

So it was something that we could afford.

The disaster assistance loans can be used to repair damaged homes, replace belongings, or even relocate a home to a safer area.

Some of the money can also be used to strengthen property against future storm damage.

You know, so it could be a storm shelter.

Could be, could be a seepage problem, could be a sump pump, but also two over the life of the loan.

If they need, additional funds, they can go back to their loan officer.

They can request additional funds.

The window to file loans because of physical damage done by the May tornadoes is now closed.

But businesses that experienced income loss due to the storms can still apply for economic injury loans.

That deadline is in April of 2026.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.