Flood-Prone Communities Contemplate Buyouts

July 18, 2008 — -- Debbie Halcomb unpacked boxes and worried that her damp carpet harbored mold as she moved back into her flood-damaged home on Wednesday.

She enjoys the normally tranquil setting about three miles from the Mississippi River in the eastern Missouri community of Winfield. But she's had enough. She's hoping for a government buyout so she can move to higher ground.

"I don't know if I can take another flood," Halcomb said.

After the Great Flood of 1993, the government bought out thousands of properties in flood plains around the Midwest. Now, weeks after the latest massive flood, voluntary buyouts are again being considered in at least five states -- Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois.

Residents in areas that qualify can sell their properties to their city or county, with 75 percent of the costs paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the other 25 percent paid by nonfederal funds. Each state manages the buyout grant money.

Communities demolish what's on site and agree not to develop the land, though it can be used as a park or take on some other recreational use.

Brett Voorhees, spokesman for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said more than a half dozen Iowa communities suffered enough flood damage that they likely are considering buyouts. Notices of interest are due Sept. 12.

Voorhees said it will be months before officials know how much money FEMA will provide. Typically, he said there's not enough funding for all buyouts.

"It's a very competitive process," he said.

Officials in Des Moines, Iowa, are moving ahead with a buyout plan for a neighborhood north of downtown called Birdland Park. They will request $1.2 million from the federal government to buy up to 20 homes, among the more than 100 properties damaged when the Des Moines River breached a levee in June.

In Wisconsin, applications for the buyout program have been sent to 18 communities and another eight are going to be sent, said Roxanne K. Gray, state hazard mitigation officer.