County officials opened the Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Florissant to help residents recover from the historic tornado.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Residents, businesses, and nonprofits affected by May 16’s historic tornado in the St. Louis region are now eligible for disaster loans through the Small Business Administration, county officials said on Friday.
The St. Louis County Office of Emergency Management said a Disaster Loan Outreach Center is scheduled to open at 1 p.m. on Friday at the County library location in Florissant at 195 S. New Florissant Road. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
SBA representatives can help people affected by the tornado with filling out loan applications, learning about recovery loans, and applying for economic injury disaster loans. Deadlines to apply for physical damage loans are July 21, while economic injury loans are open through Feb. 23.
County officials said walk-ins to the center are welcome. Individuals can also click here to schedule an appointment or click here to apply for loans online.
The 23-mile-long twister claimed the lives of five people and caused over $1.6 billion in damages across the St. Louis region, according to damage assessments. The EF3 tornado had max wind speeds of 152 mph and was almost a mile-wide in some areas.
“The devastation is truly tremendous,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said of the first fatal tornado in the city in several decades. “I would say this is one of the worst storms (in city history).”
