SBA drought disaster loans still available during gov't shutdown

New Hampshire businesses and nonprofit organizations with financial hardships from the statewide drought still have access to federal loan funds, despite the government shutdown. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration noticed the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans to organizations in the Granite State who sustained economic losses caused by drought beginning on Sept. 9.

A representative of the SBA said Thursday loan officers are still processing applications, and monies for approved borrowers will be disbursed, despite the Congressional stalemate.

“The government shutdown does not impact SBA’s disaster services,” SBA spokesperson Janel Finley wrote Thursday. “Our teams will continue supporting communities, processing disaster loan applications, and disbursing funding. The SBA remains committed to assisting disaster survivors nationwide.”

New Hampshire has, for over a month, experienced a serious drought. The disaster declaration includes Belknap and all other counties in New Hampshire, plus five counties in neighboring Vermont. 

Under the disaster declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries and nonprofits who are eligible and have experienced financial losses directly related to the drought. The SBA will not, however, provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, other than those engaged in aquaculture enterprises.

Those loans are available specifically for working capital needs caused by the drought, and are available even if the business or nonprofit organization didn’t suffer physical damage. Loan funding can be used to pay off fixed debts, payroll, invoices and other bills that went unpaid due to the effects of the disaster. 

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA, wrote in a press release. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

Loans can be up to $2 million, with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses, and 3.625% for nonprofits, with terms up to 30 years, Finley said. Interest doesn’t accrue, and payments are not due until one year after the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and conditions based on an applicant’s financial condition. 

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, for more information. People who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities may dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services. 

The deadline to apply for the loans is May 18, 2026.

In a meeting about the drought on Sept. 30, New Hampshire state climatologist Mary Stampone said the state experiences frequent “warm season droughts,” which onset in late spring through mid-summer. This summer, New Hampshire started out wet from May to June, but going from June to July, the state became dry, with lower-than-average precipitation. 

“What we see going into the warm season, we know water outputs are going to increase. We have stronger sunlight, warming temperatures — for every degree of Fahrenheit increase in temperature we see, on average 4% increase in the amount of moisture the air can hold — plants are growing, we’re using more water,” Stampone said. “All of those outputs, we know, are going to increase during that warm season, but we don’t know what the inputs will be, primarily from precipitation.” 

The month of October, while cooler than September, was expected to be warmer than is typical. Going into December, scientists expect some improvements, due in part to season cooling, but areas experiencing the most intense drought conditions will likely see those conditions persist without significant rainfall. 

“We really do need to see some precipitation to have appreciable improvements in drought conditions,” she said.

Ted Diers, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services assistant director of the Water Division, said the state experienced significant drought conditions in 2016, which resulted in lasting winter impacts.

“What we’re seeing right now looks somewhat similar to that,” Diers said.