Saint Paul -- Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that his request for a Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Declaration was granted by the federal agency today in response to damage caused by tornados and severe storms that occurred June 17-26.

“There is much work to do, but this additional federal assistance will help Minnesotans recover from the severe storms that hit the state last month,” Governor Pawlenty said.

The SBA announced that low-interest disaster loans will be made available to residents in Wadena and Otter Tail counties and the neighboring counties of Becker, Cass, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Todd, and Wilkin.

Governor Pawlenty sent a letter to the SBA on July 7 requesting a disaster declaration by the agency. The Governor stated that the SBA damage threshold of at least 25 homes and/or businesses with 40 percent or more uninsured losses has been met.

SBA provides low interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, non-profit organizations to repair or replace real estate, personal property, machinery & equipment, inventory and business assets that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster. Additional information can be found at www.sba.gov

People in the designated counties with questions about assistance from the SBA can learn more at the Wadena-Otter Tail Disaster Recovery Center on Friday, July 9 from 1:00 p.m.to 7:00 p.m. and July 10-12 from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Wadena-Otter Tail Disaster Recovery center is located at:

National Guard Armory
517 North Jefferson Street
Wadena, MN

The filing deadline to return applications for property damage loans is August 7, 2010. The deadline to return economic injury applications is April 8, 2011.

On July 2, Governor Pawlenty announced that he had secured a major disaster declaration, clearing the way for federal relief and recovery assistance for Faribault, Freeborn, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Polk, Steele and Wadena counties. Governor Pawlenty requested the declaration in a letter to the President on June 25, 2010 and amended the request on June 30 to include damage caused by storms from June 18-26.

The Presidential major disaster declaration included two categories of aid:

• Public Assistance: Assistance to state and local government and certain private non-profit organizations for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities. This applies within the counties in the disaster area.

• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program: Assistance to state and local government and certain private non-profit organizations for actions taken to prevent or reduce long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards. All counties in the State of Minnesota are eligible to apply for assistance under this program.

Extreme weather has caused significant property damage to homes, farmsteads, public infrastructure and businesses. The preliminary damage estimate in the major disaster assessment reported a total of 842 dwellings impacted by the storms and expenditures are expected to exceed $35.5 million.