Both Federal Deadlines for the July 2026 Texas Floods Are Now December 29: FEMA Publishes Its Application Date, the SBA Corrects Its Own, and Recovery Centers Open in San Antonio and Kerrville

What Changed, and When

Two things changed this week, and they changed in the same direction.

On November 11, 2026, FEMA issued release NR-002 from Austin, announcing that Disaster Recovery Centers had opened in Bexar and Kerr counties “to offer face-to-face help for Texans who sustained damage from the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding from July 12 to Aug. 4, 2026.” The release then states the date that had not previously appeared on FEMA’s own disaster page: “The deadline to apply for FEMA disaster assistance is Dec. 29 for residents of Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Crockett, Dimmit, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Medina, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala counties.” The release repeats the date a second time near its close. (FEMA, release NR-002)

Separately, the U.S. Small Business Administration issued a correction to its own Federal Register notice. The correction was issued November 6, 2026, filed November 10, and published at 91 FR 72941 under Disaster Declaration #22044 and #22045, Texas Disaster Number TX-20085, for FEMA-4935-DR. It states that the earlier notice, “dated October 30, 2026, published November 4, 2026 at 91 FR 69630, is hereby corrected to update the incident period as July 12, 2026 through August 4, 2026 and to update the physical loan application deadline date to December 29, 2026.” It adds that “all other information remains the same.” The Economic Injury Disaster Loan deadline is unchanged at July 30, 2027. (Federal Register, 91 FR 72941)

Read together, the two documents close a gap this blog described on November 5. At that point the SBA notice gave an incident period beginning July 7 and a physical damage deadline of December 30, while FEMA’s documents gave July 12 and no application deadline at all. Our November 5 post described those dates as they stood that day; the corrected figures above supersede them. The underlying declaration, DR-4935-TX, still carries a declaration date of September 1, 2026 and an incident period of July 12 through August 4, 2026 on FEMA’s disaster page, which was last updated November 11, 2026. (FEMA, DR-4935-TX)

Who in Texas This Reaches

Twenty counties for household help. FEMA names the same twenty counties for its December 29 deadline that the SBA names as primary counties: Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Crockett, Dimmit, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Medina, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala. FEMA states that “homeowners and renters may receive FEMA assistance for losses not covered by insurance.” (FEMA, release NR-002)

Twenty more counties for business loans only. Because the SBA correction leaves all other information unchanged, the twenty contiguous counties remain eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans only, and only for small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations: Atascosa, Blanco, Concho, Crane, Duval, Edwards, Guadalupe, Hays, Irion, Llano, Mason, McMullen, Menard, Pecos, Reagan, Terrell, Tom Green, Upton, Webb and Wilson. A business in one of those twenty counties is working toward July 30, 2027, not December 29, 2026. (Federal Register, 91 FR 72941)

Two places to walk in. FEMA lists the centers as the Las Palmas Branch Library, 515 Castroville Road, San Antonio, open 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, closed Sundays and closed Wednesday, November 11; and Calvary Temple Church, 3000 TX-534 Loop, Kerrville, open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays. FEMA states that “FEMA and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) staff can help survivors apply for federal disaster assistance,” that specialists “can also identify potential needs and connect survivors with local, state and federal agencies as well as nonprofit organizations and community groups,” and that “no appointment is needed.” The centers are described as accessible, with assistive technology, and FEMA gives a dedicated line, published in the release, for a reasonable accommodation or an American Sign Language interpreter, and notes “press 2 for Spanish.” (FEMA, release NR-002)

What This Changes Legally

The corrected incident period decides who is inside the window. This is the quieter of the two changes and the one more likely to matter to a specific file. The SBA documents previously described the event as beginning July 7, 2026; the correction fixes the start at July 12, 2026. A property damaged on July 8, 9, 10 or 11 sat inside the window the earlier SBA notice stated and sits outside the window the corrected notice states. Anyone whose damage falls in those early days, or who already filed on the strength of the earlier dates, is looking at a question about their own paperwork rather than a general rule, and that is a question for the agency and for a lawyer reading the specific file. (Federal Register, 91 FR 72941)

Two programs, one date, different paperwork. December 29, 2026 is now the deadline both for a FEMA disaster assistance application and for an SBA physical property damage loan application, but they are separate filings with separate agencies and separate records. FEMA directs applicants to DisasterAssistance.gov, the FEMA mobile app, the FEMA Helpline, which the release states is open daily 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Central time, or any Disaster Recovery Center. The SBA directs applicants to the MySBA Loan Portal at lending.sba.gov, and gives its disaster assistance customer service center and the email address [email protected] for help, noting that people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability may dial 7-1-1 for telecommunications relay services. (FEMA, release NR-002)

Insurance comes first, and the files have to agree. FEMA states that survivors with homeowners or renters insurance “should first file a claim with their insurance companies as soon as possible,” and that “if your policy does not cover all your damage expenses, you may be eligible for federal assistance.” The practical consequence is that an insurance claim, a FEMA application and an SBA loan application are three accounts of the same damage that have to be consistent with one another, and a denial or a partial payment on one can change what the others are looking at. (FEMA, release NR-002)

What Kind of Option Might Apply

FEMA describes its household assistance as covering losses not covered by insurance. The SBA correction leaves its loan terms as published: interest rates for physical damage listed at 5.750 percent for homeowners with credit available elsewhere and 2.875 percent for homeowners without, 8.000 percent for businesses with credit available elsewhere and 4.000 percent for businesses without, and 3.625 percent for private nonprofit organizations; and for economic injury, 4.000 percent for businesses and small agricultural cooperatives without credit available elsewhere and 3.625 percent for private nonprofits. (Federal Register, 91 FR 72941)

A loan is debt, and the paperwork that creates it is a contract. Many people in these twenty counties are weighing a federal loan against an insurance claim that has not resolved, a mortgage, a lease, or a business that lost a season of revenue. An experienced Texas attorney can read the loan documents, the insurance policy and the federal correspondence together and explain what each one says before anything is signed. Renters have their own set of questions, because the damage is to someone else’s building and the lease, the landlord’s insurer and the renter’s own personal property claim all sit in different places; a lawyer who handles tenant matters can explain how those pieces relate in a specific situation. Business and nonprofit applicants often have a lawyer review the obligations and any collateral terms alongside the rest of the organization’s debt. Whether a particular household or business is eligible for any of this is for FEMA or the SBA to decide on the application, and for a lawyer to review against the specific facts.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

December 29, 2026 is about seven weeks out from this post, and it now carries two programs rather than one. Federal disaster deadlines are dates printed in an agency release and a Federal Register notice; they are not tied to whether an insurance claim has closed or an adjuster has finished. Gathering what a file will need — the policy, the claim number, the adjuster estimate, photographs, receipts, repair bids, the lease if the property is rented, and any letter already received from FEMA or the SBA — takes time. It is best to talk to a lawyer early rather than after a date has passed, because the options available before a deadline are not the same as the options after it. The December 29 date also falls in the week between the holidays, when offices and mail run short, and a file that is ready in advance is not waiting on either.

Sources

1. FEMA, release NR-002, “Disaster Recovery Centers Open in San Antonio and Kerrville,” November 11, 2026 — primary document for the December 29 FEMA application deadline, the twenty-county list and the center locations and hours.
2. U.S. Small Business Administration, “Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for the State of Texas” (Correction), Disaster Declaration #22044 and #22045, TEXAS Disaster Number TX-20085, 91 FR 72941 — primary document for the corrected incident period and the December 29, 2026 physical loan deadline.
3. U.S. Small Business Administration, the original notice at 91 FR 69630, November 4, 2026 — the notice the correction amends.
4. FEMA, DR-4935-TX disaster page — declaration date, incident period and the current Disaster Recovery Center list.
5. KSAT, “FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open in San Antonio and Kerrville to help Texans affected by summer storms,” November 11, 2026
6. Texas Public Radio, “San Antonio and Kerrville open FEMA disaster recovery centers for Texans hit by summer storms,” November 11, 2026