Blair County residents eligible for flood assistance

Loans available for help with recovery after July 28 storm

Blair County residents and businesses that may have experienced damage from flooding on July 28 are eligible for Small Business Administration loans to help with recovery.

Serious flooding that day occurred mainly in Clearfield County, resulting in a disaster declaration for that county, making its residents eligible for recovery help -- while also making the handful of Blair County victims of less severe flooding from the same storm also eligible, based on an SBA policy that extends recovery loan eligibility to counties contiguous to those where a disaster was declared, according to Blair County Emergency Management Director Cris Fredrickson.

Those Blair County victims were concentrated in Tyrone Township, which mainly consists of Sinking Valley, according to Fredrickson.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster.

Applicants may also call SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.

Information on recovery help is also available at https://www.blaircountypa.gov/departments/emergency-management/flooding-storm-damage.

The deadline for applying for help in recovering from physical property damage is Oct. 19, according to a news release from the SBA that was forwarded by Fredrickson.

The deadline to apply for help in recovering from economic loss is May 19, 2027.

Other counties contiguous to Clearfield and thus eligible for recovery help from the July 28 storm are Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clinton, Elk, Indiana and Jefferson.

The disaster declaration for Clearfield County for the July 28 flooding centered there should not be confused with federal, state and local disaster declarations for Blair County based on flooding in and near Tyrone on July 5 and 6.