• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Fires/Accidents/Disasters / Thirty-five cities and counties seek property buyouts

Thirty-five cities and counties seek property buyouts

September 19, 2008 By admin

Iowa cities and counties damaged by flooding are requesting more than 250-million dollars worth of buyouts from the state. Thirty-five cities and counties have submitted lists of properties they believe are eligible for buyout.

Cedar Rapids submitted the most properties, followed by Iowa City, then Mason City. Bret Voorhees, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, says there are a few businesses on the list but most of the ,2700 are homes.

Voorhees says, "We will now go through the process of prioritizing the properties and the projects that were submitted to us and then we do have to wait in terms of knowing what total dollars are going to be available for the program, because of the nature of the dollars we receive from FEMA."

Voorhees says the state expects to receive about 200-million FEMA dollars for flood mitigation buyouts but won’t know a solid figure for a few months. Voorhees says not every property will be approved.

"Most of these properties are individual homes," he says. "There would be a few businesses, but this program is aimed primarily for property owners as a way to purchase this property and turn it into green space, typically a park, so next time it floods we wouldn’t have any damages to pay off and, of course, that would reduce the number of lives that would be in danger as well."

If every request is approved, he says more than 2,700 homes statewide would be turned into public land. Voorhees says, "Under our program, the space is turned into green space, typically a park forever, so it changes the very look of a city and it changes the potential revenue of a city and a county."

Voorhees the state should have a clearer picture of FEMA funding by December. He says by then, emergency management officials will have likely whittled down the list of eligible properties.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics / Govt

Featured Stories

Governor signs Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard into law

Jury returns guilty verdict in shooting death of State Trooper

A haboob, a dust storm black out, hits northwest Iowa

Summit has easements for 20% of carbon pipeline route through Iowa

Morel mushroom hunters on hold without warmer conditions

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa Special Olympics Summer games set to open in Ames

Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association High School Poll 5/16/22

Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw to retire

Northern Iowa prepares for Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament

T.J. Otzelberger announces staff changes at Iowa State

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC