ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (KCAU) — The City of Rock Valley is estimating that there may be enough FEMA money to allow the purchase of up to 100 homes.
In news release Monday, the city said one of the most frequently asked questions they have run into is whether or not residents’ homes will be bought out by FEMA after the flooding in June. The city said they are currently unsure of specific details as they will not have access to this money for approximately five more months.
“The City is aware that is not the timely response you need. Your frustration is understandable and if there was anything that the City could do to get you an answer today, it would have already been done. The main reason for the delay is that FEMA does not consider their program to be an immediate response action. Rather, they consider their program a long-term solution by permanently removing at-risk structures from the path of future flooding,” the city said in the release.
The city said they were able to speak with FEMA in order to get a better idea of how much money would be available for buying out homes. The city is currently estimating that there will be enough money to buy up to 100 homes, give or take a few. The city emphasizes that this total is a guess.
The buyouts are done through a grant from FEMA that pays for 75%, a grant from the State of Iowa that pays for 10%, and 15% from the city. The city estimates that their percentage would total out to $3 million for 100 homes.
The city said that Rock Valley has roughly 225 properties with varying levels of structural damage and assessments value the properties at $37,222,990 with an estimated market value of $43,737,013.
“FEMA’s goal for the home buyout program is to permanently remove at-risk residential structures from the likely path of flooding and the home buyout program is the only 100% effective mitigation method for lower elevation properties. Properties that are damaged are assigned to one of three tiers. The first tier is given the highest priority because of its proximity to the river. The second tier is given the next level of priority based on elevations and history of flooding. The third tier is for all the other properties that had structural damage caused by the June flood. Based on FEMA’s criteria, the map has 29 homes located in Tier 1 and 63 homes in Tier 2, which would only leave a very small pool of money left to help the remaining 133 homes that were impacted by the flood.” the city said in the release.
For those that find themselves in Tier 3, the city recommends you look for other avenues of saving your home as chances of a buyout are lower than the other tiers. The city provided a list of possible solutions. You can view that list below.
- Contact a trusted contractor and have them determine what needs to be done from a structural standpoint to save your house.
- If your house has not been cleared out, you should contact the City immediately so we can try to arrange volunteers who will assist you with this essential recovery step.
- Register for the Iowa Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program. This program will provide up to $50,000 for the repair or rehabilitation of the eligible disaster-affected home. Assistance is provided in the form of a forgivable loan, which is forgiven monthly over five years.
- Since Rock Valley is in a declared disaster area you may be eligible for financial assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence. The first loan payment may be deferred for 12 months with no interest accrual for the first 12 months.
- Be willing to ask for help and to accept help. The City is trying to bring in an organization like World Renew to develop a detailed list of what people need help with in rebuilding their homes and then paring up with volunteers to provide the necessary labor to the property owners.
