Disaster loans
The IRE and NICAR Database Library has just updated its Small Business Administration Disaster Loan database. Current as of September 2005, the data includes more than 300 loan records for the month following Hurricane Katrina.
The database details loans made to businesses and individuals as disaster assistance. The data identifies the borrower, the disaster, the amount and, for business borrowers, whether the loan was paid in full or deemed uncollectible. The data includes a total of 867,631 records dating back to 1980.
Journalists can use this data to analyze the government's response to natural disasters by finding who received the loans. Also, journalists can calculate loan repayment rates.
For a sample of the SBA data and more information about SBA, visit www.nicar.org/data/sba/sbadis.htr or call the Database Library at 573-884-7711.