Homeowners Face Hazard Mitigation Application Deadline

(Host) Today is the deadline for the first round of home buyout applications under the FEMA Hazard Mitigation program. 

About two dozen Vermont homes will be considered for buyout grants.  They were destroyed or badly damaged in spring flooding and in Tropical Storm Irene.

Ray Doherty is the state's Hazard Mitigation Officer.  He says an election committee will review the applications and pass them on to FEMA.  

(Doherty) "We'll be making announcements within one to two weeks of the project selection meeting, so we're looking at somewhere around mid-March that the homeowners will get word."

(Host)  The FEMA buyout program pays for 75 percent of a homes value.  But Doherty says he believes money from other sources will help fully compensate homeowners for their lost houses.   

(Doherty) "I'm reasonably confident, given the extra resources that have been made available for community development block grants as well as the Vermont Housing and Conservation board that that additional 25 percent share can be made up from those sources."

(Host) There will be a second round of FEMA Hazard Mitigation grants.  The deadline for applications is March 16^th.