It looks like there will be some federal help for victims of this summer's tornado in Connecticut after all.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced that her request for Small Business Administration disaster assistance was approved.
That means low-interest loans are now available for homeowners and businesses affected by the the tornado that caused damage in Litchfield, Fairfield, and New Haven Counties June 24.
The storm brought 100-mile per hour winds that damaged several towns, but hit Bridgeport particularly hard.
The Federal Emergency Management agency investigated and determined the tornado caused more than $2 million in public property damage and $1 million in individual property damage, but denied the state's application for a federal disaster declaration.
Rell says the SBA loans are just what people affected by the storms need. "The storms of June 24 struck with a speed and strength that we seldom see in Connecticut," Rell said. "To make matters worse, much of the area that was hardest-hit does not have the resources needed to recover on its own."
Interest rates for the loans will vary, depending on whether the borrower has access to credit from other lenders.
The deadline to apply for loans to cover physical damage is Dec. 17; the deadline for loans covering economic losses in July 18, 2011.
