PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Low-interest federal disaster loans are now open to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits across six southwestern Pennsylvania counties hit by the severe storms and flash flooding of September 12 to 20, and the clock is already running: the U.S. Small Business Administration's in-person help centre in Washington County closes for good at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, 90.5 WESA reported on Thursday, November 5. The loans, approved after Governor Josh Shapiro asked the SBA for help, are the main federal recovery money available for the September floods — up to $2 million for a business, up to $500,000 to repair a home, and up to $100,000 to replace belongings — alongside a separate Pennsylvania grant program that pays up to $20,000 to lower-income households.

Source: 90.5 WESA (Pittsburgh), November 5, 2026

The six eligible Pennsylvania counties are Allegheny — which includes Pittsburgh — Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland. Washington County is the primary county in the SBA declaration; the other five qualify as surrounding counties. Four West Virginia counties across the state line — Brooke, Hancock, Marshall and Ohio — are also eligible for both kinds of SBA loan, the SBA said. Anyone whose home, belongings or business were damaged in the September 12–20 flooding in those counties can apply, whether or not they were insured; the business loans cover disaster losses not fully paid by insurance.

The September floods: a football game evacuated, a fire station sinkhole

The money traces back to nine days of storms in mid-September. Incident reports from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), cited by WESA, say Washington County saw multiple flash flood warnings between September 12 and 20 as heavy rain swept the region. On September 12 alone, about 200 people had to be evacuated from a Washington and Jefferson College football game because of flooding, a sinkhole opened in the parking lot of the South Strabane Township fire station, and the mayor of the City of Washington declared a state of emergency. Governor Shapiro's administration later asked the SBA to declare a disaster, and the agency issued that declaration — Pennsylvania Disaster Number PA-20046 — on October 23, after receiving the governor's request on October 22.

Two kinds of loans — and they cover different losses

The first program is the physical-damage loan. Businesses and most private nonprofits can borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. Homeowners can borrow up to $500,000 to replace or repair a primary residence, and homeowners and renters can borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property such as clothing, furniture, cars and appliances, the SBA said. The second program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), is different: it is working-capital help for eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and private nonprofits — including faith-based organizations — that lost income because of the disaster even if their property was never touched by water. The SBA cannot lend to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers under the program, except aquaculture enterprises.

Interest rates depend on whether the borrower could get credit elsewhere. Under the declaration's published rate table, homeowners without credit available elsewhere pay 3 percent, while those with credit elsewhere pay 6 percent. Businesses pay 4 percent without other credit and 8 percent with it; private nonprofits pay 3.625 percent either way. Economic-injury loans carry 4 percent for businesses and small agricultural cooperatives without other credit, and 3.625 percent for nonprofits. Repayment terms run up to 30 years, which the SBA says is meant to keep monthly payments affordable for people rebuilding.

Pennsylvania's own grant program: up to $20,000 that does not have to be repaid

Separate from the federal loans, the Shapiro administration has opened the Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Assistance Program (DRAP), run by PEMA, for some Washington County communities. DRAP is a grant, not a loan: it offers awards of up to $20,000 to repair homes, cover temporary housing and rental expenses, or replace essential personal property, WESA reported. It is aimed at lower-income people who are uninsured or under-insured and have not received other aid. In Washington County, the eligible communities listed by the county include Canton Township, Donegal Township, East Washington, Independence Township, North Strabane Township, South Strabane Township and Union Township, as well as the City of Washington. The DRAP application portal is at pa.gov/ready/drap, and DRAP applications are due by January 26, 2027.

For Punjabi families and small-business owners in the Pittsburgh area and Washington County — a corridor crossed daily by Interstate 70 and Interstate 79 and home to trucking, warehouse and small retail businesses — the practical point is that both programs are open to people who were not insured for flood damage, and the EIDL program can help a business that lost weeks of income even if floodwater never entered the building. Checking eligibility costs nothing, and the in-person centre is the fastest way to get an answer before it closes.

How to apply, and what happens next

Loan applications can be filed online through the MySBA Loan Portal at lending.sba.gov (also linked from sba.gov/disaster). Applicants can also call the SBA's Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 — people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability should dial 7-1-1 for relay services — or email DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov, referencing Pennsylvania Disaster Number PA-20046. The deadlines are staggered: physical-damage loan applications close December 22, 2026; DRAP grant applications close January 26, 2027; and economic-injury loan applications stay open the longest, until July 23, 2027. After November 10, help continues by phone and online, but the face-to-face centre in South Strabane will be gone — anyone in the six counties who was flooded in September and has not yet applied should treat this week as the week to act.