People who suffered damage from this summer's record flooding in northeast Minnesota only have a few more days to apply for disaster assistance.
The raging June floodwaters significantly damaged more than 1,700 homes across the region. But fewer than 500 people have applied for low interest disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration.
That's a critical first step, because it's necessary to first apply to the SBA before homeowners can be eligible for assistance from a pool of $12 million in Minnesota Quick Start loans. The deadline to apply is Monday, Oct. 15.
Regional Long Term Recovery Coordinator Drew Digby said there are still many homes without furnaces and hot water heaters.
"It's cold, it's getting colder, and that's an incredible worry for us," Digby said.
Digby said $5.7 million in SBA loans have already been approved, and he hopes another couple million more will be approved in the next few weeks.
"We're worried that some people have given up hope seeking assistance and we're here to say, no, there is hope, there's a process, it's open now, money is flowing out the door right now, please apply, please get on that pathway to recovery," Digby said.