Homeowners and business owners impacted by the July 2017 flooding in Gurnee may be eligible for loan assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is opening a Disaster Loan Outreach Center at the Lake County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), 1303 Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville beginning Thursday, Nov. 16. View directions to the EOC. SBA Customer Service Representatives will be on-hand to issue loan applications, answer questions and help individuals complete their applications. Find out more by viewing this SBA news release.

The deadline to file an application is now January 12, 2018. Under the SBA assistance program, those in Lake County and the contiguous counties of Cook and McHenry; and Kenosha in Wisconsin can apply for low-interest disaster loans. View Fact Sheet.

Applicants may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) on the SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and applications may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Economic Injury Loan
The deadline to apply for Economic Injury loans, such as loans to assist small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and private nonprofit organizations through the recovery period is August 13, 2018.

FEMA Denies Governor’s Request for Federal Disaster Declaration

In September, Governor Bruce Rauner sent a request to the President of the United States asking that he approve federal assistance to help people in the northern Illinois region, including Lake County, recover from record flooding and severe storms in July. We were notified that FEMA has denied this request.

For more information about the July 2017 flood, including a breakdown of the Disaster Declaration Process, please visit www.lakecountyil.gov/flood.