Businesses and eligible nonprofits in eight Texas counties can seek SBA disaster loans following severe storms and tornadoes on August 28. The agency announced the assistance September 14 under disaster declaration TX-20089. SBA’s September 14 Texas announcement
The covered counties are Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson. This is geographically limited disaster assistance—not a nationwide grant opportunity and not a new program for Miami businesses.
Applications for physical-damage assistance are due November 9, 2026. The economic-injury application deadline is June 10, 2027. These are separate deadlines for different forms of assistance, so an applicant should not assume the later date applies to property repairs.
The announcement also identifies an assistance center at Las Palmas Library, 515 Castroville Road in San Antonio, scheduled to open September 15 at noon. Applicants should check the agency’s current operating information before traveling.
What the loans can cover
Business physical-disaster loans can help repair or replace eligible damaged assets. The SBA lists assistance of up to $2 million for businesses and private nonprofits, subject to its program rules and review.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans serve a different purpose: helping eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and private nonprofits meet working-capital needs caused by the disaster. Physical damage is not required for economic-injury eligibility. Agricultural producers generally are excluded from that program, with an exception for aquaculture. SBA disaster assistance
The announcement lists interest rates as low as 4% for businesses and 3.625% for private nonprofits, with terms of up to 30 years. Interest and payments are deferred for the first 12 months from the first disbursement. Actual eligibility and terms are determined by the SBA; the lowest advertised rate is not a guaranteed offer to every applicant.
Loans are not grants
These funds must be repaid. The program is not a competitive grant contest, but it does involve an eligibility and lending review. An application is not an approval, and a published maximum is not the amount every business will receive.
Our practical reading: begin by identifying the loss you are trying to address. Damage to a building or equipment raises a different application question from an interruption that leaves a business struggling to pay ordinary operating bills. A business may need to discuss more than one type of assistance with the agency.
Use the official SBA disaster-assistance website to reach application information. A social post asking for money to “reserve” government funding should not be treated as an SBA application channel.
For owners outside the eight counties, this announcement is not evidence of eligibility. For those within the covered area, the useful next step is to review declaration TX-20089, the relevant loan type and the matching deadline.
The September 14 development is a defined recovery option with defined limits: disaster-related loans, in specified counties, with repayment obligations and SBA review—not a promise of free money.
Sources
Featured image: original editorial illustration.
