v October 1998
PREFACE
Natural disasters are inevitable, and we have seen how the emotional
and financial costs of coping with them can be overwhelming. The
good news is communities all across our nation are restructuring themselves
to reduce the effects of natural disasters.
FEMA sponsors two mitigation programs to help communities take a
proactive approach to reducing the effects of disasters: the Flood Mitigation
Assistance Program and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. This
handbook explains the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and leads you
through the process of implementing one form of mitigation: property
acquisition.
Property acquisition is effective because it is a permanent form of
mitigation. It makes FEMA funds available to you for buying property in
flood-prone areas, and dedicating that property to use as open space for
all time. It enables you to remove people from harmís way . . . forever.
In that way, it reduces future emotional and financial costs associated
with your communityís disaster response, recovery, and repair.
Many States and communities have implemented property acquisition
projects, some of which have already stood the tests of natural disasters.
To learn how effective property acquisition can be, read the example in
ìProperty Acquisition at Work,î which follows on the next page.
We encourage you to carefully consider the mitigation options available
to you and choose the best one for your community. We hope this
handbook will help you through that decision and, if you choose property
acquisition, through the property acquisition process.
Property Acquisition at Work
vi October 1998
PROPERTY ACQUISITION
AT WORK
The Missouri Buyout Program1
The 1993 Midwestern flood was a record breaker both in terms of
river levels and duration. Of the nine Midwestern States affected,
the State of Missouri was the hardest hit. State officials estimate
damages totaled $3 billion.
Over 216,000 households were located in Missouriís designated
floodplains. Many of those households were affected by the 1993
flood, which created a unique window of opportunity to create more
permanent solutions to Missouriís increasingly frequent flooding
problems. Both flood survivors and unaffected taxpayers began to
call for a way to alleviate future vulnerability to flooding. The largest
response was for a buyout (property acquisition). Like many States
that suffered from that disaster, Missouri designed and implemented
a buyout program. The State received close to $100 million, which
flowed down to the local communities. One reason Missouriís
program was so successful was its emphasis on a collaborative
partnership among Federal, State, and local governments.
No one imagined that Missouri would get an opportunity to test its
buyout programís effectiveness so soon when the flood of 1995 struck.
The 1995 flood was the third-largest flood of record in many places,
despite the fact that it was considerably less devastating than its
predecessor two years earlier. More importantly, the buyout program
resulting from the 1993 flood had removed 2,000 families from harmís
way by the time the 1995 flood struck.
1 Extracted from Out of Harmís Way/The Missouri Buyout Program, prepared by the
Missouri State Emergency Management Agency.
Property Acquisition at Work
vii October 1998
St. Charles County, Missouri
A good example of the success of Missouriís buyout program is St.
Charles County, which is on the confluence of the Missouri and
Mississippi rivers. In St. Charles County alone, the combined costs
of the 1993 flood exceeded $160 million.
The buyout program in St. Charles County acquired 1,374 properties
located in the 100-year floodplain. These properties included over
560 single-family residences and 3 mobile home parks with a
combined total of 814 mobile home pads, approximately 684 of
which were occupied. When the 1995 spring rains hit, 1,000 families
(approximately 2,500 people) were out of harmís way thanks to the
buyout program. St. Charles County Planning Director, Steve Lauer
estimates that at least 95 percent of those acquired properties would
have flooded again during the 1995 disaster.
The table below compares and contrasts the costs of disaster
assistance in St. Charles County resulting from the 1993 and 1995
floods. St. Charles Countyís property acquisition project cost
$13,700,810 to fully implement. However, by comparing the costs
of the 1993 and 1995 floods, you can see the projectís benefits far
d o o l F
f o r e b m u N
s t n a c i l p p A
r e t s a s i D
g n i s u o H
& l a u d i v i d n I
s t n a r G y l i m a F
s s e n i s u B l l a m S
n o i t a r t s i n i m d A
s n a o L
L A T O T
3 9 9 1 7 7 2 ,4 05 5 , 9 5 3 , 8$ 76 1 , 8 1 8 , 5$ 00 6 , 8 9 8 , 1 1 $ 7 1 3 , 6 7 0 , 6 2 $
5 9 9 1 3 33 39 4 , 4 0 2$ 10 6 , 1 1$ 00 0 , 7 6 $ 4 9 0 , 3 8 2 $ PIC = ST. CHARLES COSTS
St. Charles County Cost Comparison
1993 And 1995 Floods
Using this Handbook
viii October 1998
USING THIS HANDBOOK
This handbook is written specifically for local communities looking for
ways to minimize the impact of future disasters. The handbook is a
ìhow toî guide to lead you through one specific hazard mitigation
alternative known as property acquisition (also referred to as ìbuyoutî).
A wall poster accompanies the handbook and uses icons to present
major steps of property acquisition ìat a glance.î The icons on the
poster appear in the margin of the handbook, where that step is explained
in detail.
The handbook comprises four parts, each of which explains the four
phases of the property acquisition process, and a Glossary, List of
Acronyms, and two-part Toolkit.
The four phases are:
q Phase I ó To Buy or Not to Buy. Phase I is the decision-making
phase, which empowers you to make an informed decision whether
or not property acquisition is an appropriate mitigation alternative
for your community.
q Phase II ó Application. Phase II leads you through applying for
FEMA funds and getting your community ready to administer those
funds should your application be approved.
q Phase III ó Implementation. Phase III leads you through the actual
acquisition of property and administration of FEMA funds.
q Phase IV ó Open Space Management. Phase IV helps you plan how
to use the property you acquire as open space, as required by law,
and manage it for the long term.
The Glossary and List of Acronyms contain the meanings of words,
terms, and acronyms you may see and hear as you proceed through the
process.
Using this Handbook
ix October 1998
The Toolkit contains tools that help you maneuver through the process
and complete activities. The Toolkit is divided into two parts:
q Checklists, samples, examples, etc. These tools are designed to
provide information succinctly and simply, illustrate a point, or ease
your workload. They are numbered sequentially, according to the
phase where they are first mentioned (e.g., Tool I-1, Tool II-1, etc.),
and referenced in the margin. The tools are separately bound.
q Reproducible forms. These tools are templates you may use ìas isî
or customize to your Stateís or communityís specifications. They also
are numbered sequentially, according to the phase where they are
first mentioned (e.g., Form I-1, Form II-1, etc.), and referenced in
the margin. Both unbound paper and disk copies are provided.
(Reproducible forms have been developed using Microsoft Word 97
software.)
If you have any questions or require technical assistance as you use this
handbook, contact your State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO).
A Word of Caution
Always use any forms your
State provides to you. Use
forms provided in this handbook
only if your State has not
provided a similar form or other
instructions for providing data.