Although the Small Business Administration's disaster loan outreach center closed in Huntington on Thursday, victims from the May 6 flood can still apply for low-interest disaster loans.

After being denied FEMA assistance twice, the SBA moved in on Sept. 19 to declare Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln, Mason and Putnam counties in West Virginia and Lawrence and Gallia counties in Ohio eligible to receive SBA assistance.

So far, SBA Public Affairs Specialist Sharon Gadbois tells Eyewitness News $665,000 worth of loans have been approved for this area with applications still being reviewed.

We have also heard from people who applied and did not get approved. Gadbois says people will have six months to try again.

“They want to pay attention to the three bullet points at the bottom of the letter," Gadbois advised. "It will say specifically what they need to do. One of the things I want to point out to you is that they’ll need to supply documentation to overcome any reasons why they may not have been approved.”

Meanwhile, in Huntington, nearly six months later, the cleanup process continues.

“Twenty inches in the house and four feet in my garage and laundry room. Everything was pretty well lost," Jane Armstrong, a Huntington resident in the Enslow Park area, said.

For Armstrong and others, the damage from that day is still being worked on and definitely still being paid for.

“Probably $20,000 because I didn’t have flood insurance," Armstrong estimated. "Water had never been in here before. I didn’t think that was needed. I saved that $900 for that year and lost $20,000 instead."

Before SBA moved in two weeks ago, Armstrong had already taken out a personal loan for flood recovery, so she didn’t apply for one this time.

Gadbois said people can go back to their case managers and get funds for mitigation like retention walls, pumps and other items. In creekside, flood-prone areas like Enslow Park in Huntington, many residents turning to mitigation strategies in fear of a repeat.

“With rain coming this weekend again, it’s concerning so I guess we’ll always think that," Armstrong said.

The deadline for people to apply for physical property damage is Nov. 14. The deadline to apply for economic injury is June 15, 2023.

More information and applications may be found online. Additional information may also be obtained by calling 800-659-2955 or emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.