9 Homes to be Bought, Razed in Warren County
Release Date: April 29, 1999
Release Number: R4-99-14
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Nine flood-prone residences built on seven land parcels will be purchased and torn down in order to eliminate repeated threats from high water in Warren County, which borders the Mississippi River.
The $268,830 project will enable dangerous runoff from nearby creeks and floodplains in the western Mississippi county to become water retention areas, their natural condition prior to being developed.
Director James Maher of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the state agency that recommended the buyout, said the county will own the sites and maintain them as open space.
Funding of the project comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the county. FEMA Regional Director John Copenhaver said FEMA would pay 75 percent of the cost. The county is responsible for the remaining 25 percent.
Copenhaver said the acquisition will allow residents to move to safer ground, and also permit long-term savings for the disaster relief fund and the National Flood Insurance Program.
FEMA's flood mitigation grant is one of numerous grants made for such projects in Mississippi above and beyond tens of millions of dollars spent for disaster response and recovery efforts. To date, nearly $10 million has been earmarked for mitigation projects in the state during the 1990s.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 13-Jan-2004 11:14:40