SCRANTON, Pa. — On Monday, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration approved a request to make financial aid available to victims of the devastating flooding on September 9, 2023.
The federal support would help several counties, including Lackawanna, where A highway was damaged and many homes were left condemned.
"Anyone who's here in Lackawanna County who takes the notch, you saw the trucks there for months and months trying to repair the creek bed. We've done at least $2 million of work ourselves here in Scranton," said Mayor Paige Cognetti, Scranton.
For Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, the announcement of these low-interest loans comes after the city was unable to secure individual assistance from FEMA to help with recovery efforts.
"We didn't get that individual assistance. The SBA loan is a great option, and we hope that folks that were impacted by the flood do explore that," explained Mayor Cognetti.
The Governor's office says the SBA loans can provide up to $500,000 for homeowners to replace or repair their primary residences and up to $100,000 for homeowners and renters to replace or repair personal property.
For Mayor Cognetti, it's another way people can get the help they need, "Oh, the SBA loan is a good option for some folks, and that's in addition to the $5,000 grants that the city of Scranton is still working through we will keep fighting for the dollars that we need to make sure that we are doing as much as we can to medicate something like this from happening again," she said.
The Small Business Association is opening a Disaster Loan Outreach Center starting Tuesday in Jessup.
For more information on disaster assistance loans, click here.