Montgomery to finish buyouts of flooded homes
After back-to-back rain events in 2016 flooded dozens of homes, Montgomery County is hoping to wrap up the final buyouts of some of those properties and permanently remove them from the flood plain.
To date, 60 homes have been purchased and demolished between the county’s six federally funded programs through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Jason Millsaps, executive director for the county Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the goal for 2023 is to buy out at least 38 homes with a target of hitting 50 by the end of the year.
“The 50 we plan to do this year will complete these grants,” Millsaps said. “It’s voluntary. No homeowner is forced to sell out.”
Millsaps said through the programs, $14 million of the $67 million allocated has been spent on buyouts.
According to information from the county, most of the homes bought out were in Precinct 4 including 15 in Patton Village and in Precinct 2 including 10 in River Plantation. In Precinct 3, the target area is Timber Lakes Timber Ridge where nine have been purchased and another six are anticipated to be purchased this year.
Millsaps updated the court on the program during a Jan. 24 meeting. Home buyouts aren’t new to the county, he said. In 1994, FEMA bought out 250 homes in the county that had been flooded several times.
He said the county was not involved in that buyout and that little information, including where the homes were, is available.
In 2016, Millsaps said, the Tax Day and Memorial Day rain events prompted FEMA to award funds for buyouts from residents wanting to sell their homes.
The Houston region, including
Montgomery County, saw 17 inches of rain on April 18, 2016 followed by another significant rain event May 26, 2016 that dumped 20 inches of rain across the region.
Millsaps said the reason the buyouts have taken many years is due to the lengthy process he called an “atrocious amount of work.” Documentation, including when the home flooded and what the homeowners have
done to repair the home, is needed to ensure the home is eligible for a buyout, he said.
Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said the situation was stressful for homeowners.
“You have to get people willing and ready to admit there is no hope for their home,” he said. “That’s a tough place to be.”