Actually, after a disaster, if you have losses that aren't covered by insurance, businesses don't initially get assistance from FEMA, they apply for a low-interest loan from Small Business Administration (see: http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/loans-grant...) instead.
Yeah, I took a shortcut when I said FEMA loans, it's not directly from FEMA but they'll help you with the SBA to get a disaster loan.
Pretty nice to have a safety net, but the government can be picky too. Many people I know got rejected for loans after the Northridge earthquake 20 years ago for trying to make a quick buck selling batteries etc. way above the regular price. FEMA people commented to my parents (they owned a small biz at the time) that they were one of the handful of businesses that didn't price gouge anyone within the area. I had no idea the government could pay so much attention to what people were doing in such a big area.
