FEMA Flood Mitigation Initiative Will Pay Homeowners To Move

A new FEMA program, the Swift Current initiative, will allocate $60 million to flood mitigation assistance grants, writes Zoya Teirstein for Grist. "Starting April 1, the agency will open up $60 million in flood assistance grants to Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, with $40 million of that money earmarked for Louisiana — a state that’s home to six of the 20 most at-risk counties in the country for flooding."

"The Swift Current initiative is both an acknowledgment that retreat is a reality for some people and evidence that the federal government isn’t ready to incentivize or mandate retreat from flood-prone areas. It’s up to towns to decide what kind of projects they want to submit for grant money, so there’s no saying how many individual homes will end up receiving buyouts thanks to this program."

According to the article, "The grant funding, which will be distributed by local governments, can go toward one of five flood mitigation categories, including elevating buildings off the ground, retrofitting them, and making them more resilient to water." A sixth category, "property acquisition and structure demolition/relocation," will help homeowners relocate their homes or pay them for their land to encourage managed retreat from flood-prone areas.