Montgomery County is working to secure money to buy out around 50 flood-prone homes.
The specifics
Montgomery County commissioners at their Nov. 5 meeting approved hiring a consultant to help navigate the application process to obtain funding from a Federal Emergency Management Agency program for buying out and demolishing homes that have flooded multiple times.
Jason Millsaps, executive director of the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Montgomery County has about 250 eligible properties that have repeatedly flooded. FEMA designates homes that have multiple claims for flood damage as “severe repetitive loss” properties.
“Predominantly, these are going to be located in Precincts 3 and 4, which is based on the historical nature of our flooding,” Millsaps said.
Millsaps said his office will soon reach out to homeowners at these properties to gauge willingness to volunteer for a home buyout. Based on people’s income, some will qualify for down payment assistance and moving expenses from the grant.
“It’s a really great program,” Millsaps said, “not only to get them out of the mess that they’re in, but we get them in a home that’s way better and a much nicer place with very little expense to them.”
The county will hire Hagerty Consulting for $59,000, which can be reimbursed by the grant, Millsaps said.
The county will submit an application to the Texas Water Development Board in the coming weeks. The TWDB has to submit applications to FEMA by February, Millsaps said.
More than $600 million in funding this cycle is estimated to be available from FEMA nationwide in its flood mitigation assistance grant program, according to the TWDB.
The impact
To date, the county has purchased 148 flood-prone properties, Millsaps said. After the county purchases the properties, the homes are demolished and the land remains green space.
“It’s a great program,” said Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray.
