(WSBT) A week and a half after a devastating tornado, federal money is not yet helping tornado victims in Nappanee. But that could change.

Marilyn Schmaltz of Benton Harbor asked, "When federal funds are freed up for disaster does that only mean for low interest loans, or does that include free money to the victims?"

The financial future of the victims of the Nappanee tornado is uncertain. It's not known how much help they will be getting, especially with the country's current focus on the wildfires in southern California.

“Often small towns get forgotten,” said Congressman Mark Souder (R-Ind). “The percentage of homes that were destroyed in Nappanee, the percentage of businesses that were destroyed in Nappanee, are greater than any city in California.”

Congressman Souder is on FEMA’s Subcommittee for Homeland Security. Nappanee is part of his district. If Nappanee gets federal assistance people would see it through a combination of low interest loans and federal grants. FEMA’s grant assistance has a cap of $28,800. But loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration can be higher.

“Indiana people are so responsible that many of them have insurance. And [with] the volunteerism and all the help in the community, the question is how many cases do we actually have?” explained Souder. “I'm going to argue that just because an area has insurance or just because many of those people take care of themselves shouldn't be a reason that they don't cover some of these small businesses.”

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels already asked FEMA to conduct a preliminary damage assessment for Nappanee. Once that is finished the governor will decide whether to ask the president for a disaster declaration.