13 C.F.R. § 123.2 What are disaster loans and disaster declarations?
Title 13 - Business Credit and Assistance
SBA offers low interest, fixed rate loans to disaster victims, enabling them to repair or replace property damaged or destroyed in declared disasters. It also offers such loans to affected small businesses to help them recover from economic injury caused by such disasters. Disaster declarations are official notices recognizing that specific geographic areas have been damaged by floods and other acts of nature, riots, civil disorders, or industrial accidents such as oil spills. These disasters are sudden events which cause severe physical damage, and do not include slower physical occurrences such as shoreline erosion or gradual land settling. Sudden physical events that cause substantial economic injury may be disasters even if they do not cause physical damage to a victim's property. Past examples include ocean conditions causing significant displacement (major ocean currents) or closure (toxic algae blooms) of customary fishing waters, as well as contamination of food or other products for human consumption from unforeseeable and unintended events beyond the control of the victims.
Title 13: Business Credit and Assistance
PART 123—DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM
Subpart A—Overview
§ 123.2 What are disaster loans and disaster declarations?
