It’s like they never left.

With President Biden having signed on March 20 disaster declarations for the severe storms which hit Rhode Island on December 17 and January 9, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have sent representatives back to Cranston to assist folks in need of aid, just like when severe storms hit Rhode Island last September. Representatives from both federal organizations are going door to door in affected neighborhoods and once again at Cranston Central Library to help with the application process. The Cranston Herald spoke with representatives of both organizations to find out what’s different, and what’s the same, this time around. 

Deadline is May 20 for December and January floods

SBA

Bryan Santamaria, a public affairs specialist with the Small Business Administration, spoke with the Herald about this round of loan applications. 

Public Affairs Specialist with Small Business Administration

“SBA is providing low interest loans to folks that were impacted by the floods,” he said. “So if folks lost personal property, vehicles, if they have had damage to their home, or if they're a business owner or a nonprofit, we can provide assistance to them while they wait for their insurance.”

“What’s new with the program since the September floods is that FEMA is assisting business owners as well.”

“Loans for small businesses are up to $2 million. For a homeowner it’s up to $500,000. For a renter it’s up to $100,000.”

“The only thing that’s changed recently is the interest rate. So the interest rate is a little higher, that’s 2.688% and that’s the lower interest rate, and the highest would be 5.375%.”

That’s up from 2.5% - 5% for home loans.  

This basically comes from the Department of Treasury,” Santamaria explained. “They are the ones that set the interest rate. When we’re going to declare a disaster we look at what is that interest rate and we go from there. previously, as it has been 2.5%, but everything has gone up like crazy.

“We don't like changing these numbers,” Santamaria continued. “That's what we captured on that specific day before we did the declaration. And that will stay throughout the life of the loan, so that never changes. So if somebody does request a 30 year loan, that interest rate will never change.”

We asked about the application process for the December and January floods, for which the deadline to apply is May 20.

“The application process is the same,” Santamaria said. “You can go to sba.gov/disaster or you can go to a business recovery center or to a disaster recovery center.”

Santamaria says Rhode Islanders are, so far, doing a good job taking advantage of what is available to them.

“We're seeing a lot of interest,” Santamaria said. “We've been doing application intakes for about two days for the December floods, we've seen about 257 applications so far, and roughly for the January floods, we've seen about 115.”

SBA has been an active presence in Rhode Island since last September, and not just for the floods.

“We're also assisting with the bridge closure as well,” Santamaria said. “And we do have a specific business recovery center, at the East Providence City Hall, that's on the second floor.”

Meanwhile, Rhode Islanders impacted by the September floods should already be seeing their aid come in.

“I want to say most have,” Santamaria said about whether those Rhode Islanders have begun receiving funds. “There's still some applications that we're awaiting documents for.”

“Anything $25,000 or below would be distributed in one chunk, and that could be that,” Santamaria explained. “However, any loan that is over $25,000 does require collateral, and those are distributed in chunks.”

“Any loan that is over $25,000 disbursement will require a lien on the property or a lien on equipment if it’s a business,” he continued, “then once that's done, we would disburse the additional. Sometimes there's insurance requirements as well depending on where in the country you are.”

According to Santamaria, there are about 38 SBA employees currently operating in Rhode Island. Additionally, there are teams working on the back end at bases in Texas and Atlanta.

All in all, if you’re an applicant for a loan through SBA, this program is “Pretty much the same program, copy paste. The only thing that changed was the interest rates… But besides that it’s the same thing.”

There are also the same risks of scams. In order to keep yourself from being fooled, Santamaria has this to say.

“I highly recommend making sure that you review the webpage. It's sba.gov/disaster. Make sure that it's a safe link HTTPS. If you're unsure, visit a center and we can always provide you with assistance. Do not pay anybody to do your application. Some folks, I've seen that going around a scam or somebody says hey, yeah, I can guarantee you $20,000 or so on and so forth. Don't fall for it. Go down to a center. It's free to apply for assistance.”

FEMA

Joseph Shoemate, a Disaster Survivor Assistance Specialist with FEMA spoke with the Herald about what to expect from the agency.

“We are kind of the ground running folks with FEMA,” Shoemate said of his team of DSA specialists. “Generally, when a disaster happens, once it's declared, within a few days we’ll be sent in. Generally, we go door to door. So once the emergency managers and local fire EMS and all of them get together with our folks, they will decide the most hit areas whether, obvious or not, and we will break up into our teams and go into each of those areas. And typically we go door to door knocking. We have fliers with us and give information on how folks can register.”

“And with that,” he continued, “We tend to also be the eyes and ears to a certain extent for FEMA. And so we’re listening to them as they speak. They tell us their story, their experience. Sometimes we may catch something like an immediate need, an emergency need, family needs and we can help facilitate, potentially sending out information up to get a quicker reaction for them, maybe whether it's civil rights related, disability related, medical related, food, water, anything like that.”

Shoemate explained the process of disaster recovery and how it expands from local to national.

“Typically, once a disaster happens, it always starts with local government, local EMS, volunteer agencies, things like that,” he said. “So they're the ones that will do that initial aid. In a big disaster, it's like right away. In this instance, it would have been saying, as you get further and further from that date, and then they start, local EMS, state, everything they decide okay, we might need assistance from FEMA. Government assistance.

He continued, “There has to be obviously the disaster act process started, meaning there's a request to the president for assistance.”

After that declaration, FEMA can cast a wide net of potential services. “You know, there's repair help, there's reimbursement help if you've already done some things. There's total loss help if your home is completely destroyed. There's generally ways you get assistance, like say your home is unlivable because of mold or whatever, you may be able to access assistance while getting a place to rent. Or if you have a family member that'll take you in but it's going to be a few months, you may be able to help pay them some money from those funds. Oftentimes hotels might be selected by the state or a nonprofit where people can go.

“Vehicles are a little tricky,” he added, in regards to getting help replacing a totalled car. “It has to generally be your only vehicle and it has to completely not work.”

“If you have homeowners insurance, car insurance, renter's insurance, all the insurances, sometimes those feel like they can prohibit you from getting assistance,” Shoemate continued. “But really what you have to do is make those claims, submit that paperwork to FEMA, and when they see let's say for example, you flooded your basement, completely flooded, it's been drywalled and finished. Now you have to tear all that out, you’ve got to replace it, and your insurance covers only up to 50% of tha. Well you can you can get that quote from a general contractor. They must be licensed. And you can submit that with an appeal and that letter from your insurance.”

FEMA, Shoemate wants to be clear, is not a loan program like SBA. “FEMA is a Housing Assistance Program,” he said. “We come in to make sure you have a safe, sanitary and functional place to live. And so if you get your home inspected, and that assessor says hey, like this is dangerous, it's moldy, they're going to say hey, we need to get you somewhere, you know, that's not safe and not healthy. And that's where that rental assistance and those other things come in.”

Currently, FEMA has nearly one hundred agents working in Rhode Island, according to Shoemate.

Much like with SBA, one in need of aid from FEMA can do so at a recovery site such as Cranston Public Library, or online at FEMA.gov/disaster