For Release: Immediate  Date: August 16, 2001

Renee Hoffman Public Affairs Director 919-733-5027 Ext. 231

RALEIGH - The N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety (CCPS) is working to aid flood victims in the town of Ahoskie and Hertford County - areas impacted by Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 and flooded again by the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison in June.

N.C. Emergency Management, a division of CCPS, has submitted applications for 117 residents in the Brown-Farmer Subdivision, Stoney Creek Mobile Home Park, and unincorporated areas of the county to participate in buyouts available through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMPG). The state is waiting for approval and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional office in Atlanta. Once the approval is granted, the county will contact all homeowners eligible for the buyout.

The Emergency Management Division administers the HMPG. The program purchases homes impacted by recent flood events and places the families in homes outside the flood prone area. This removes the families from danger and prevents future flooding disasters. Homeowners or renters whose primary residence is located within the 100-year floodplain are eligible for the buyout. Homeowners are offered pre-disaster, fair market value for their property. In most cases, this means the value of the property the day before the day before the flood event occurred.

The state accepts applications from local governments for the HMPG and submits the applications to FEMA for final approval. FEMA provides 75% of the project cost and the State of North Carolina pays the other 25%.

Efforts are well underway to acquire over 4,200 structures as a result of Hurricane Floyd. North Carolina is current administering the largest state buyout effort in the history of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. To date, 2,774 housing appraisals have been completed, offers to purchase have been made on 2,314 homes, and 1,563 homes have been acquired. Of the homes acquired, 436 have been demolished and the families moved to homes outside the floodplain.

For more information on the status of the project in Ahoskie and Hertford County, contact Charles Jones, Director of Hertford County Emergency Services, at (252) 358-7861 or Dr. Gavin Smith with North Carolina Emergency Management at (919) 715-8000, ext. 246. Additional information can also be found on our website at www.ncem.org/mitigation/main.htm.

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