Linda McMahon: SBA is ‘right behind FEMA’ in relief efforts after series of hurricanes

Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon said Thursday that her agency is “right behind FEMA” in helping businesses get back up and running after a series of hurricanes devastated parts of the country last month.

“This is the only time SBA actually loans money. Typically, we guarantee loans. So up to $200,000, whether it’s a business loan, a home loan, a mortgage, renters who have lost property, capital or inventory losses,” she explained on Fox News.

Ms. McMahon said she has been to Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, both with President Trump and on her own, to see how her agency can better assist people in those regions with what they need.

“We have just now, for instance, in Houston, we have now approved over 12,000 loans for about $1.1 billion. So that’s very meaningful in that market to get people back up and running. And then in Puerto Rico, a little bit slower simply because they don’t have their power grids up. Their communications channels are still down, so their applications are a little slower coming in,” she said.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria all hit in successive weeks leaving Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico to clean up the damages. Puerto Rico in particular suffered extensive damage because of the strength of the storm. Recovery efforts have become a source of political debate while supplies have been slow to be distributed throughout the island.