Friendswood’s initial application for Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout funds was denied in part because one home did not meet a requirement that the homes must all be in a floodplain, officials told Community Impact Newspaper. Other reasons for the disqualification include a glitch with FEMA software and the city of Friendswood having a different standard to measure severe damage than FEMA, said Kathy Hopkins, mitigation specialist at the Texas Water Development Board. The one home that did not meet FEMA’s standards was added to the October application because it had flooded several times in the past, Friendswood City Manager Morad Kabiri said. When Kabiri informed the City Council in April about the denial, it was not immediately clear why the $12 million request was denied. Kabiri suggested it might have been a cost issue, as the total funds available for buyouts was only $90 million at the time. The one home that did not meet standards was not in FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Area, officials from the Texas Water Development Board and the city of Friendswood said. “But that one home that was on the list that was not in a special flood hazard area – the 1999 maps or even the preliminary maps – has flooded four times if I recall correctly,” Kabiri said. “So it did meet the threshold as a repetitive loss structure as outlined by the grant requirements. So that was why it was pursued. Whether or not the maps accurately reflect its propensity to flood is a different thing, but just due to the frequency of the property’s previous floods I included it on the application.” The Special Flood Hazard Area is determined by FEMA’s flood maps. Kabiri used the 1999 flood maps as well as RiskMAP6 to complete the application. The 1999 maps are the last maps FEMA has approved according to the city of Friendswood, but RiskMAP6 is also on FEMA’s website and was more applicable for certain homes, Kabiri said.