U.S. Congressman Clay Higgins, R-La., said the Small Business Administration has approved Gov. Jeff Landry’s drought disaster declaration request and extended the deadline for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications in response to the 2023 drought.

Higgins led a letter with members of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation to the SBA Administrator, Isabel Guzman, in support of Landry’s request earlier this week.

“The approval of SBA assistance is excellent news,” Higgins said. “Last year’s drought severely impacted Louisiana’s crawfish industry and related businesses. This disaster assistance will protect our way of life and bring relief to those impacted by the disaster. I commend Governor Landry for his dedication to our state. My office remains committed to the mission of assisting our crawfish industry.”

As a result of the SBA declaration, those looking to apply for disaster loan assistance may do so online at SBA.gov/disaster.

For further assistance, contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or by phone at 1-800-659-2955.