Disaster Assistance

As the saying goes "you never know when disaster strikes", fortunately, there are government assistance programs that are available to you if a disaster strikes you.

In order to get disaster assistance through the government, your incident has to be declared a national disaster by the President. Once that declaration is made, there are many different disaster relief programs that become available.

Business Physical Disaster Loans

The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides financial assistance to non-profit, private, organizations, and businesses of any size that are located within a declared disaster area.

The financial assistance is usually low-interest, long-term loans to cover losses that are not covered by insurance or by other means. In order to qualify for assistance, the entity must have sustained physical damage in a county that was declared a disaster.

Casualties, Disasters, and Theft

You may be eligible for tax relief for casualty losses that occurred due to the destruction or damage to your property from declared disasters. In order to qualify for the program, you must be the victim of the declared disaster and you have to be a taxpayer that is interested in getting help with your tax preparation.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also has a program that provides tax counseling and assistance to taxpayers that have had property damaged due to a disaster.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance

If you are unemployed due a declared disaster, the Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program provides you with unemployment benefits. You must not be eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits to qualify for DUA.

Payments will be made if you no longer have a job, are unable to reach your workplace, have become the breadwinner of the household, because the head of the household died because of the disaster, or you cannot work because you were injured during the disaster.

Farm and Ranch Programs

Farmers and ranchers tend to be exposed to a wide range of natural disasters that can greatly affect their business. To assist farmers and ranchers cope with these disasters, there are several programs that provide financial assistance in the form of low-interest loans and insurance to agricultural producers.

These programs include Crop Insurance, which protects agricultural producers against losses of crops and livestock due to natural causes. Emergency Conservation Program for Agricultural Producers which shares the cost of repairing eligible farmlands damaged by natural disasters. Emergency Farm Loans are available to family farmers to help recover losses from natural disasters. These loans can be used to repair or replace buildings, buy livestock and equipment, and to pay for essential farm operations.

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