Fiscal year 2013—the period between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013—was one of the busiest in recent memory for SBA’s disaster assistance program.

SBA approved a total of 46,817 disaster loans for $2.8 billion during FY 2013.  The majority of those loans were made to homeowners and renters recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the Atlantic coast on October 29, 2012—nearly a month after the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Here are some interesting stats:

• For Hurricane Sandy alone, SBA approved more than 36,500 disaster loans for a total of $2.4 billion by the end of FY 2013
• Of those, more than 32,000 loans went to homeowners and renters for a total of $1.9 billion
• The number of business disaster loans approved was 4,082, for a total of $478 million.
• In terms of SBA disaster loan volume, Hurricane Sandy is the third largest natural disaster in U.S. History
• The bigger disasters were the Gulf Coast Hurricanes of 2005 (Katrina, Rita and Wilma), with 169,900 loans approved for $11 billion, and the Northridge (CA) earthquake of 1994 (124,262 loans approved for $4 billion)

Meanwhile, 89 percent of the number of loans approved (41,698), and 80 percent of the dollars in disaster lending ($2.2 billion) went to homeowners and renters.

About 10 percent of the number of loans approved (5,119) and 19 percent of the dollars ($550 million) in loans made went to businesses.

SBA quickly increased its staffing to support the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.  In October 2013, prior to Sandy, there were 1,100 SBA disaster personnel.  By January the number had grown to more than 2,400.

The number of disaster survivors using SBA’s Electronic Loan Application (ELA) increased from 36 percent in FY 2012 to 55 percent during FY 2013. Marketing outreach and a simplified application process made the ELA more attractive to users.

In the aftermath of natural or man-made disasters, the SBA provides recovery assistance in the form of low-interest, direct loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private non-profit organizations.  Visit the website for more information about SBA’s disaster loan program.