Federal Disaster Loans Are Now Open for the July 2026 Texas Floods: 40 Counties, a December 30 Deadline for Property Damage, and Three Official Documents That Do Not Agree on the Dates

What Changed, and When

On November 2, 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration published disaster news release TX-20085-01 announcing “the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans to businesses, private nonprofits, and residents affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding occurring July 7 –Aug. 4.” The release states that the loans follow “a Presidential disaster declaration issued Oct. 30.” (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

Two days later, on November 4, 2026, the declaration appeared in the Federal Register at 91 FR 69630 as a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Texas, carried under Disaster Declaration #22044 and #22045, Texas Disaster Number TX-20085, and FEMA-4935-DR. The notice gives the incident as “Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding,” an issue date of October 30, 2026, and an incident period of “July 7, 2026 through August 4, 2026.” It states a Physical Loan Application Deadline Date of December 30, 2026 and an Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date of July 30, 2027. (Federal Register, 91 FR 69630)

This is the fourth step in one sequence, and it is the first step in that sequence to carry a filing deadline. The underlying declaration, DR-4935-TX, was signed on September 1, 2026 as a Public Assistance declaration, which funds governments and certain nonprofits rather than households. A FEMA letter dated September 28, 2026 denied the state’s request for statewide Individual Assistance. On October 30, 2026 the President amended the declaration to open Individual Assistance in 20 counties, which our October 30 post describes. The SBA loan program is the piece that follows the amendment, and it is separate paperwork with its own dates.

On October 31, 2026, FEMA issued release NR-001 opening the Individual Assistance application for the same 20 counties, stating that “FEMA may be able to help with serious needs, displacement assistance, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs,” and directing applicants to DisasterAssistance.gov, the FEMA mobile app, or the FEMA helpline. That release notes that “U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, nonprofits, homeowners and renters” and that, like FEMA, “SBA cannot duplicate benefits for losses covered by insurance.” (FEMA, NR-001)

Who in Texas This Reaches

There are two lists, and they are not the same list.

Twenty primary counties are eligible for both physical damage loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Crockett, Dimmit, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Medina, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala. This is the same twenty-county list FEMA designated for Individual Assistance on October 30. (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

Twenty adjacent counties are 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. These twenty counties were not on the FEMA Individual Assistance list, so for a business in Hays, Tom Green or Webb County this notice is the first federal program of this disaster that reaches it at all. (Federal Register, 91 FR 69630)

The SBA states that it “is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.” In a declaration whose county list runs through the Hill Country and the ranching counties of West and South Texas, that exclusion decides who this program is for. (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

What This Changes Legally

There are now two deadlines, and they are different lengths. The SBA gives December 30, 2026 as the filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage, and July 30, 2027 as the deadline to return economic injury applications. Both dates appear in the Federal Register notice and in the SBA release. (Federal Register, 91 FR 69630)

FEMA, for the same disaster, has published no application deadline. When the DR-4935-TX disaster page was reviewed on November 5, 2026, it carried the incident period and the declaration date and directed applicants to apply, with no Individual Assistance application deadline stated on the page. Two federal programs for one flood are running on two different clocks, and only one of those clocks is posted. (FEMA, DR-4935-TX)

Three official documents give three different incident periods. This is the detail most likely to matter to a specific household. The SBA Federal Register notice and the SBA release both give July 7 through August 4, 2026. The FEMA DR-4935-TX disaster page and FEMA release NR-001 give July 12 through August 4, 2026. FEMA release HQ-26-176 of October 30, 2026 described the event as running July 12 to August 14, 2026. A property damaged on July 8, 9 or 10 falls inside the window the SBA documents state and outside the window the FEMA documents state, and a property damaged August 10 is the reverse. Which window governs which application is a question for the agency and for a lawyer reading the specific file, not something a reader should have to infer from a press release.

Neither program may duplicate insurance. FEMA states that “by law, FEMA cannot duplicate benefits for losses covered by insurance,” directs people with insurance to file with the insurer first, and says that “if your policy does not cover all your damage expenses, you may then be eligible for federal assistance.” The SBA is subject to the same bar. The practical consequence is that an insurance claim, a FEMA application and an SBA loan application are three files about the same damage that have to be consistent with one another. (FEMA, NR-001)

What Kind of Option Might Apply

The SBA describes what the loans can cover. Businesses and most private nonprofit organizations “may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.” Homeowners and renters “may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances,” and homeowners “may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.” Applicants “may also be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damage, as verified by SBA, for mitigation purposes,” which the release describes as including storm-rated garage doors and safe rooms. (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

Economic Injury Disaster Loans are described as available “even if the business or private nonprofit did not suffer any physical damage,” for “working capital needs caused by the disaster,” and may be used “to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills which could not be paid due to the disaster.” The SBA states that interest rates run “as low as 4% for businesses, 3.625% for private nonprofits, and 2.875% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years,” that “interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement,” and that it “determines eligibility and sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.” (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

These are loans, which means they are debt, and the paperwork that creates them is a contract. Many people in this position are weighing an SBA 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 FEMA correspondence together and explain what each one says before anything is signed; 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 qualifies for any of this is for the SBA to decide on the application, and for a lawyer to review against the specific facts.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

The December 30, 2026 physical damage deadline is about eight weeks out from this post, and it covers the larger of the two loan categories for homeowners and renters. Federal disaster deadlines are dates printed in a Federal Register notice; they are not tied to whether an insurance claim has closed or an adjuster has finished. Gathering the documents a file will need — the policy, the claim number, the adjuster estimate, photographs, receipts, repair bids, and any FEMA letter already received — takes time, and 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 SBA directs applicants to apply online at sba.gov/disaster, and states that a Disaster Loan Outreach Center is operating at the Las Palmas Library, 515 Castroville Rd., San Antonio, with walk-ins welcome and appointments available in advance. It also lists its National Support Network Center at (866) SBA-HELP and the email address [email protected]. (SBA, release TX-20085-01)

Sources

1. Small Business Administration, “Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for the State of Texas,” 91 FR 69630, published November 4, 2026 (Disaster Declaration #22044 and #22045; Texas Disaster Number TX-20085) — primary document.
2. U.S. Small Business Administration, disaster news release TX-20085-01, “SBA Relief Available to Texas Businesses, Private Nonprofits, Residents Affected by Adverse Weather,” November 2, 2026 — primary document.
3. FEMA, release NR-001, “Texans Affected by July and August Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes and Flooding Can Apply for Possible FEMA Assistance,” October 31, 2026 — primary document.
4. FEMA, disaster page for DR-4935-TX, Texas Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding — primary document, reviewed November 5, 2026.
5. Texas Public Radio, “Additional federal disaster assistance available in Texas following the summer’s severe weather and flooding,” November 2, 2026
6. KERA News, “Additional federal disaster assistance available in Texas following the summer’s severe weather and flooding,” November 2, 2026