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An aerial view of flood damage wrought by Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on October 3, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Small business owners in the Southeast who've been waiting for long-delayed pandemic aid are pushing for that money to recover from this fall's brutal hurricane season. The federal government says more of it is heading their way soon.

Around 400,000 claims worth $10 billion are now being processed for eligible business owners who applied for tax refunds under the Covid-era Employee Retention Credit program, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.

The agency didn't give a concrete timeline or geographic details about the applicants, but it said Thursday that it's accelerating work on those claims, and it estimated this summer that at least 1.4 million were still in queue.

"Our top priority is to quickly help taxpayers affected by the devastation of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton," IRS spokesperson Mike Martinez told NBC News. He also highlighted recently announced tax relief for those in affected regions, including filing and payment extensions for individuals and businesses. "We understand the urgent need across the federal government to provide financial assistance to small businesses."

Martinez urged small business owners in affected communities whose ERC claims are still under review to contact the IRS Disaster Hotline and check their application's status. For taxpayers with fully processed ERC claims whose mail routes have been disrupted, the U.S. Postal Service will hold checks at the closest distribution hub until operations resume, he said.

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