Officials with the federal Small Business Administration say Alaska residents and businesses impacted by the heavy storms brought on by the remnants of Typhoon Halong can now apply for low-interest disaster loans.
At a news conference in Anchorage on Wednesday, SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler said the ongoing government shutdown should not impact the loans.
“It will not have an impact under my watch or under President Trump's watch,” Loeffler said. “So we're continuing with that work. We have about two dozen staff on the ground today. We're going to be here for the long haul.”
Loeffler spoke alongside Gov. Mike Dunleavy outside of the Alaska Airlines Center, which is serving as one of two mass shelters for Western Alaska evacuees.The move to open up the loans comes after President Trump signed a federal disaster declaration on Oct. 22 for the storms that occurred about a week and a half before.
Loeffler said homeowners can qualify for a loan of up to $500,000 while businesses can borrow up to $2 million. She said the SBA is also modifying its rules to allow loans for any damages to personal property related to subsistence camps.
“Which would allow funding and lending to take place for things like hunting, ATVs, food preservation devices, hunting knives and boats and other things needed for subsistence camps,” she said.
SBA officials said in a press release that real estate damages for subsistence camps would not be eligible.
Northwest Arctic Borough Mayor Dickie Moto said his region hasn’t been hit as hard as other Western Alaska communities, but he’s grateful for the specific carveout for subsistence assistance.
“50-60%, maybe more, of the food we eat is subsistence,” Moto said. “You know, the villagers rely on subsistence food because of the lack of jobs in the village, even in our area.”
Halong is the second ex-typhoon to bring devastation to Western Alaska in three years. Dunleavy said there should be an ongoing discussion with regional community partners about how to address the frequency of these kinds of storms.
“I don't think it should be ignored,” Dunleavy said. “I think it's something that we need to take a look at, especially for those places that seem to be getting hit more and more with repeated storms and water.”
Dunleavy said those future discussions could involve village relocations or potential infrastructure investments.
