McDowell County small businesses and nonprofits facing lingering fallout from the February 15–18, 2025 storms have been given more time to apply for federal disaster aid. The U.S. Small Business Administration extended the EIDL application deadline to November 26, 2025, for 13 West Virginia counties covered under Presidential major disaster declaration FEMA-4861-DR, a step that keeps open loans of up to $2 million to cover working capital needs such as payroll, fixed debts and operating expenses.

The EIDL program is significant for McDowell because it does not require applicants to show physical damage, allowing businesses that lost revenue from flood-related closures, supply-chain interruptions or customer loss to qualify. The SBA’s Atlanta office administers the loans, which were highlighted in agency announcements in late February and May 2025 and reiterated in local coverage urging applications as the November deadline approached.

The federal response began quickly after the storms. The Presidential declaration issued February 26, 2025, activated SBA disaster loans for primary counties including McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming. The declaration was amended March 10 to add Logan and Wayne as primary counties eligible for both physical and economic assistance, and a March 11 rollout opened Business Recovery Centers in McDowell and Mercer counties to help residents with applications and recovery resources. A Federal Register correction on April 25 confirmed interest rates for the program — for example, 4% for businesses — and clarified deadlines.

For a county with entrenched economic challenges, the extended EIDL window matters beyond individual balance sheets. McDowell’s poverty rate exceeds 30% and the long-run decline of coal has shrunk employment options and tax bases. Economists and local planners note that preserving small businesses helps stabilize employment and services in tight labor markets where each retail store, repair shop or nonprofit can play an oversized role in daily life. Nonprofit organizations, including those that support after-school and social services, are also eligible for EIDLs, which can help sustain community supports strained by infrastructure damage and displacement.

The federal recovery effort has continued to evolve: a September 8 amendment adjusted federal cost-sharing to 90% for public assistance, and local partners such as the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce have offered mini-grants alongside SBA aid to boost recovery. Still, questions remain about uptake and disbursement. Post-deadline SBA data will be needed to assess how many McDowell applicants received loans and whether funding constraints or administrative bottlenecks affected outcomes, concerns mirrored in other disaster responses.

For McDowell residents, the immediate policy implication is practical — businesses and nonprofits with economic injury from the February events have until November 26, 2025, to seek federal loans that could sustain payroll and operations through recovery. In the longer term, the assistance can slow closures and outmigration that have eroded the county’s economic base, but sustained recovery will depend on follow-through: application uptake, timely disbursement, complementary local grants and continued rebuilding of damaged infrastructure. Local recovery centers and the SBA remain the entry points for applications as the deadline approaches.