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More help may be on its way for victims of last month’s tornado in DuPage County.
Governor JB Pritzker requested a declaration of disaster from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), three weeks after an EF-3 tornado ravaged the Woodridge and Naperville areas.
If approved, eligible residents could apply for a “low interest, long term” loan of up to $ 200,000. Businesses could get up to $ 2 million in loan assistance.
Damage observed in the area was not eligible for a FEMA disaster declaration, but it is with SBA.
However, after a year of COVID relief loans, some businesses may be slow to accept help.
The Skeleton Key Brewery in Woodridge still has no power after the tornado severely damaged the brewery and tap room on June 20.
Co-owner Emily Slayton said she is still paying off construction project loans in addition to the COVID relief loans she took out to survive during pandemic shutdowns.
“It could be something that helps us close the remaining gap that we are waiting for [but] the thing is, right now, after COVID, we’ve already taken out relief loans, â€Slayton said. “It’s hard to say that a low interest loan is the silver bullet, the thing that will help everything because it takes on another debt position.”
The Naperville Department of Public Works officially ended the storm cleanup on Wednesday, according to a city spokeswoman, but many homes on Ranchview Drive and Princeton Circle are still in poor condition.
Of the 231 structures damaged at Naperville, 19 are considered unusual.
Of the 400 damaged homes in Woodridge, 29 are classified as a “total loss.”
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