Residents, business owners and farmers in a swath of central Illinois — including Elmwood — hit by 15 confirmed tornadoes Saturday night are eligible for low-interest disaster recovery loans. Robin Kelly, chief of staff of the state treasurer’s office, made the announcement at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Elmwood Fire Department.

Gov. Pat Quinn declared Peoria County a state disaster area Monday after tornadoes touched down in Elmwood and other areas, causing major structural damage to many buildings and homes. A large part of downtown Elmwood, just across the Peoria County line from Knox County, was ripped apart by the twister.

The declaration makes residents and business owners eligible for the Opportunity Illinois: Disaster Recovery Loan Program. Farmers are now eligible for Cultivate Illinois: Storm and Drought Loan Program.

Under the loan programs, the treasurer’s office obtains below-market interest rates for storm victims in declared disaster areas who finance their disaster repairs through participating local lenders. As of Tuesday, loan rates would be no more than 4.5 percent.

Residents, business owners and farmers that expect insurance to cover damages can qualify for one-year bridge loans with interest-only payments. These loans are designed to be paid off in one lump sum when insurance or aid comes through.

Underinsured storm victims can qualify for low-interest loans with repayment terms of up to five years.

To take part in the Opportunity and Cultivate Illinois loan programs, borrowers must:

• Own damaged property in an area declared a local, state or federal disaster area;

• Secure a loan up to their damage amount with a participating lender;

• File the application within 90 days of the state or federal disaster declaration;

• Use the money for disaster recovery.

The treasurer’s office is currently enrolling local financial institutions in the programs, beginning with the 30 local financial institutions that are already approved to accept state depositories. They include the Farmers State Bank in Elmwood, and Heritage Bank of Central Illinois (Trivoli/Peoria County).

For more information about Opportunity Illinois, call (866) 523-0642, or e-mailopportunityillinois@treasurer.state.il.us.

For more information about Cultivate Illinois, call (217) 558-6217, or e-mail cultivateillinois@treasurer.state.il.us.