Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster Assistance and Recovery Response Inspection Report (SBA OIG Report 24-12)
Summary
SBA OIG inspection Report 24-12, dated April 3, 2024, from Inspector General Hannibal "Mike" Ware to Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, assesses SBA's initial response to Hurricane Idalia, which struck Keaton Beach in Florida on August 30, 2023. OIG found the response timely and effective: SBA established a field presence within 3 business days and opened a Business Recovery Center within 10 business days in both Florida and Georgia. As of November 30, 2023, SBA had completed processing 4,237 of 4,402 applications, and it approved 1,235 Florida applications totaling $74.4 million and 240 Georgia applications totaling $9.8 million. OIG calculated average processing time at approximately 7 days and found staffing adequate.
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“Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster Assistance and Recovery Response Inspection Report (SBA OIG Report 24-12).”
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U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster
Assistance and Recovery Response
Inspection Report
Report 24-12
April 3, 2024
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U.S. Small Business Administration
Office of Inspector General
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster Assistance and
Recovery Response (Report 24-12)
What OIG Reviewed What OIG Found
This report presents the results of our We found SBA’s initial response to
inspection of the U.S. Small Business Hurricane Idalia was timely and effective.
Administration’s (SBA’s) initial disaster SBA established a field presence within
assistance response to Huricane Idalia. 3 business days and opened a Business
Recovery Center within 10 business days
On August 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia struck
for both Florida and Georgia. During our
Keaton Beach in Florida as a Category 3
site visits, we interviewed residents
hurricane, where it caused damage to the
who reported positive experiences with
Big Bend region, a rural area where the
the customer service received at the
peninsula and panhandle come together.
recovery centers. Additionally, we found
The hurricane also crossed into southern
SBA was responsive to the increase in
Georgia. The President declared this a
loan applications that resulted from
disaster in Florida on August 31 and in
Hurricane Idalia.
Georgia on September 7.
Our objective was to assess SBA’s initial
response to Hurricane Idalia, including
staffing, loan application volume, and
timeliness of disaster loan approvals.
To answer our objective, we visited seven
disaster assistance facilities in Florida to
observe SBA’s operations and interactions
with Hurricane Idalia survivors. We did not
visit centers in Georgia due to low
application volume and fewer recovery
centers in the state than those reported in
Florida. We interviewed program officials
and reviewed applicable laws and
regulations, SBA’s standard operating
procedures, and training guidance. We
also reviewed disaster loan application
processing data and recovery center staffing
data.
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
MEMORANDUM
Date: April 3, 2024
To: Isabel Casillas Guzman
Administrator
From: Hannibal “Mike” Ware
Inspector General
Subject: Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster Assistance and Recovery Response (Report 24-12)
This report presents the results of our inspection of Hurricane Idalia – Initial Disaster Assistance
and Recovery Response.
We appreciate the cooperation and courtesies provided by your staff. If you have any questions
or need additional information, please contact John Provan, Director of Disaster Assistance
Program Group, or Andrea Deadwyler, Assistant Inspector General for Audits, at (202) 205-6586.
cc: Francisco Sanchez Jr., Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience
Katie Frost, Associate Administrator, Office of Capital Access
Katherine Aaby, Associate Administrator and Chief Financial Officer, Office of Performance,
Planning, and the Chief Financial Officer
Walter Hill, Chief Risk Officer, Office of Enterprise Integrity
Therese Meers, General Counsel, Office of General Counsel
Deborah Chen, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of Performance Planning, and the Chief
Financial Officer
John Miller, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Capital Access
Tonia Butler, Director, Office of Internal Controls
Anna M. Calcagno, Director, Office of Program Performance, Analysis, and Evaluation
Michael Simmons, Attorney Advisor, Office of General Counsel
Peter Meyers, Senior Advisor, Office of Capital Access
Rachel Wilson, Program Analyst, Office of Capital Access
Sheena McShan, Program Analyst, Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience
409 Third St. SW, Washington, DC 20416 • (202) 205-6586 • Fax (202) 205-7382
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
Hurricane Idalia ......................................................................................................................... 2
Objective ................................................................................................................................... 2
Results ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Customer Service Response ...................................................................................................... 3
Disaster Loan Volume and Timeliness ....................................................................................... 4
Recovery Center Staffing ........................................................................................................... 5
Tables
1 Hurricane Idalia Loan Application Volume .................................................................... 4
2 Hurricane Idalia Loan Processing Times as of November 30, 2023 ............................... 5
Appendices
1 Scope and Methodology ............................................................................................ 1-1
i
Introduction
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) plays a major role in disaster relief efforts in
the wake of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other physical disasters that occur in the
United States and its territories. SBA’s disaster assistance program provides low-interest
disaster loans to individuals and businesses impacted by such disasters. Loans are offered to
businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters to repair or
replace real estate, personal property, machinery and equipment, inventory, and business assets
that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster. SBA also provides Economic Injury
Disaster Loans (EIDL) to eligible small businesses and most nonprofit organizations, providing
working capital to help overcome economic injury.
SBA works alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in coordination with
state and local government agencies to establish Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) throughout
disaster-affected areas. The DRCs assemble representatives from federal, state, and local
disaster relief agencies and organizations to issue program information and provide applications
for government assistance. Additionally, SBA may establish its own recovery centers focused on
providing SBA services in affected areas as described below:
• Business Recovery Center (BRC) – A facility established by SBA and staffed with SBA
personnel to assist survivors with their disaster loan applications, answer questions about
SBA programs, and close loans.
• Interim Operating Facility (IOF) – A FEMA-managed center intended to serve as the
provisional joint field office (JFO) and to operate and serve as the immediate and
potentially pre-event federal presence for field level operations. The IOF is expected to
transition support over to a JFO as it becomes operational. Once this occurs, staff
typically transition from the IOF to the JFO.
• JFO – A temporary FEMA-managed center serving as the unified command center for
disaster established to provide a central point for federal, state, local, and tribal
executives with the responsibility of incident oversight, direction, and/or assistance to
effectively coordinate protection, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery
actions.
1
Hurricane Idalia
On August 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia, a powerful Category 3 hurricane, first made landfall on
Keaton Beach in the Big Bend region of Florida. The Big Bend region is a rural area where the
Florida peninsula and panhandle come together – punctuated with fishing villages and beach
communities. The National Hurricane Center predicted the storm would bring disastrous storm
surges and destructive winds to areas on the eastern seaboard of Florida, and the path of the
storm would eclipse the Florida panhandle and southern Georgia.
Hurricane Idalia left a trail of destruction. With sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, this
hurricane tied the record with the Cedar Key Hurricane of 1896 as being the strongest storm
to ever hit the area. According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Idalia left nearly
500,000 residents in Florida and Georgia without power.
On August 31, 2023, the President declared a major disaster in Florida and ordered federal aid
to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the affected areas.
On September 7, 2023, the President also declared a major disaster in Georgia and ordered
federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the affected areas.
The loan application filing deadline for Hurricane Idalia to address physical property damage
ended in Florida on November 29, 2023, and in Georgia on November 6, 2023. The loan
application deadline for EIDL applications to address business economic loses is May 31, 2024,
for Florida and June 7, 2024, for Georgia.
Objective
Our objective was to assess SBA’s initial response to Hurricane Idalia, including staffing, loan
application volume, and timeliness of disaster loan approvals.
2
Results
We found SBA’s initial response to Hurricane Idalia was timely and effective. The agency met its
strategic goal of establishing a field presence within 3 business days and opened a BRC to assist
disaster survivors within 10 business days in both Florida and Georgia. In Florida, SBA established
a field presence with FEMA at the IOF in 2 business days of the Presidential declaration and
opened a BRC in 5 business days of the declaration. In Georgia, SBA opened the first BRC in
4 business days of the Presidential declaration and increased staff at the JFO in Atlanta in
3 business days of the declaration. During the disaster, SBA appropriately responded and
properly assigned staff at the centers based on loan volume.
Customer Service Response
We performed a site visit approximately 6 weeks after
the hurricane occurred. During our walkthrough of the
agency’s operations in Florida, we did not observe
significant customer wait times. Overall, the residents
interviewed reported positive experiences related to
the services provided at the recovery centers.
SBA established several locations beyond the DRCs,
such as BRCs and Portable Loan Outreach Centers,
where survivors could seek assistance from SBA. In
Florida and Georgia, there were at least 26 locations
where Customer Service Representatives were
available to provide disaster loan assistance.
In addition to SBA’s on-site support, the
Customer Service Center was available and
had minimal wait times. The disaster
response team used a recently upgraded
phone system, which allowed most calls to
be answered within 1 minute. Calls lasted
an average of 5 to 7 minutes. For longer
wait times, the system activated a callback
function that allowed customers to
3
maintain their place in line without having to remain on hold. We believe this upgraded
phone system alleviated the issues regarding unanswered calls discussed in our prior
report. 1
Disaster Loan Volume and Timeliness
We evaluated the volume of loans submitted and the time it took for SBA to begin approving
those loans. We found the agency was responsive to the number of loan applications to be
processed that resulted from Hurricane Idalia and other ongoing disasters. As of November 30,
2023, SBA had already completed processing 4,237 of 4,402 applications, representing
96 percent of all applications submitted (table 1).
Table 1: Hurricane Idalia Loan Application Volume
Dollar Value Dollar Value
Number of Number of Percent of Number of of Loans of Loans
Applications Applications Applications Applications Approved Disbursed
As of Date Received Completed Completed Approved (in millions) (in millions)
09/30/2023 2,782 2,394 86% 794 45,047.6 1,637.9
10/30/2023 3,859 3,621 94% 1,266 71,796.6 8,893.3
11/30/2023 4,402 4,237 96% 1,475 84,251.9 16,679.2
Source: OIG analysis based on Disaster Credit Management System disaster activity reports, September 30,
2023 – November 30, 2023
Although Hurricane Idalia caused damage in both Florida and Georgia, most of the
approved relief loans were for applicants in Florida. As of November 30, 2023, SBA received
3,591 applications and approved funding for 1,235, totaling $74.4 million in Florida. For Georgia,
SBA received 811 applications and approved funding for 240, totaling $9.8 million.
We also evaluated loan processing timeliness, including approvals, denials, and withdrawals,
submitted as of November 29, 2023 – the physical damages’ application filing deadline. We
calculated the average processing time to be approximately 7 days. Table 2 shows the loan
application processing times for these loans.
1
SBA OIG, Report 21-05, Consolidated Results of SBA’s Initial Disaster Assistance in Response to Hurricanes Harvey,
Irma, and Maria (December 22, 2020).
4
Table 2: Hurricane Idalia Loan Processing Times as of November 30, 2023
All
Applications Home Business EIDL
Loan processing – average processing days 6.92 5.97 9.96 9.9
Source: SBA Office of Inspector General analysis of Hurricane Idalia application volume retrieved
from ETRAN
Recovery Center Staffing
SBA adequately staffed the IOF and DRCs for Hurricane Idalia and established BRCs in Florida
and Georgia to handle the application volume according to its strategic goals. Using the Field
Operations Center-East A-Z Guide and Hurricane Idalia Action Plan, SBA determined its projected
staffing requirements for the hurricane at the beginning of the declaration. Hurricane Idalia
was declared a major disaster by the President in Florida on August 31, 2023, to which SBA
provided staff for the IOF on September 1, 2023. Additionally, SBA opened a BRC in Florida on
September 5, 2023. The President later declared Hurricane Idalia a disaster in Georgia on
September 7, 2023. SBA provided staff for the JFO on September 11, 2023, and opened the first
BRC on September 12, 2023. SBA met its strategic goals of establishing a field presence within
3 business days and opening a BRC within 10 business days of disaster declarations for both
Florida and Georgia.
Many centers began to close due to the low application volume and minimal recovery center
traffic after the first month of the declarations for both states. As a result, staffing reassignments
were made to centers that remained open. We conducted site visits at one BRC, five DRCs, and
the IOF located in Florida during the week of October 10, 2023. We observed minimal traffic at
the DRCs and BRCs and witnessed just one applicant at the seven centers we visited. We did not
visit recovery centers in Georgia due to low application volume and fewer applicants visiting the
centers than in Florida. As SBA met its projected staffing goals found in the FOC-East A-Z Guide
and Hurricane Idalia Action Plan of three employees per center, we believe SBA had adequate
staff to process the increase in loan applications caused by Hurricane Idalia.
5
Appendix 1: Scope and Methodology
This report presents the results of our inspection of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s
(SBA’s) initial disaster assistance response to Hurricane Idalia. Our objective was to assess SBA’s
initial response to the hurricane, including staffing adequacy, loan application volume, and
timeliness of disaster loan approvals.
To answer our objective, we interviewed SBA officials from Field Operations Center (FOC)-East,
the Processing and Disbursement Center, Damage Verification Center, and Customer Service
Center. Further, we reviewed applicable laws and regulations, SBA’s standard operating
procedures (SOP), including SOP 50 30 9, and other SBA operating policies and guidance. We
obtained and reviewed computer-generated Disaster Credit Management System disaster
activity reports to assess loan application volume and disaster loan application processing in
addition to staffing data provided by FOC-East contained in the detailed field activity reports
(DFAR). Lastly, we visited the following seven centers in Florida:
1. Enoch Davis Center Disaster Recovery Center (DRC), Pinellas County, St. Petersburg,
Florida
2. Palm Harbor Community Service Agency DRC, Pinellas County, Palm Harbor, Florida
3. Hernando Public Library Spring Hill Branch DRC, Hernando County, Spring Hill, Florida
4. Gainesville Interim Operating Facility, Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida
5. Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce Business Recovery Center, Suwannee County,
Live Oak, Florida
6. Career Source North Florida DRC, Madison County, Madison, Florida
7. Jefferson County Library DRC, Jefferson County, Monticello, Florida
We conducted this inspection in accordance with the Council of the Inspectors General on
Integrity and Efficiency’s Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation. Those standards
require that we plan and perform the inspection to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to
provide a reasonable basis for our conclusions and observations based on our inspection
objective. We believe the evidence obtained provided a reasonable basis for the conclusions and
observations based on our inspection objective.
1-1
Use of Computer-processed Data
We relied on computer-processed data of loan application processing contained in the Disaster
Credit Management System and daily field operations and staffing reports analyzed in the DFARs.
We conducted limited testing on data extracts to verify reliability of the data by ensuring
consistency between common data points on the staffing report, payroll reconciliation report,
and DFARs. We believe the data is sufficiently reliable to support the report conclusions.
Prior Audit Coverage
The following lists OIG’s previous audit coverage related to the objective of this report:
Report Number Report Title Report Date
24-11 Maui Wildfires – Initial Disaster Assistance and April 2, 2024
Recovery Response
21-05 Consolidated Results of SBA’s Initial Disaster Assistance December 22, 2020
Response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria
18-19 Inspection of SBA’s Initial Disaster Assistance Response July 19, 2018
to Hurricane Maria
18-16 Inspection of SBA’s Initial Disaster Assistance Response April 26, 2018
to Hurricane Irma
18-10 Inspection of SBA’s Initial Disaster Assistance Response January 19, 2018
to Hurricane Harvey
1-2
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