By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

COLUMBUS, Kan. — A Federal Emergency Management Agency official on Tuesday described the procedure for buyouts of flood-damaged houses in Cherokee County.

“Individuals do not have to sell,” said Roger Benson, natural-hazards program specialist for FEMA. “Nobody is forcing any property owner to take a buyout.”

Benson made the comment after a flood-plain meeting with city officials from Columbus, Scammon and Baxter Springs. He devoted part of the meeting to discussion of the proposed buyout. No homeowners attended the meeting.

Jason Allison, Cherokee County emergency management director, on Monday said he identified 18 houses near Riverton along Spring River that qualified for buyout offers because of the amount of damage from flooding in June. Allison said Tuesday that some houses inside Baxter Springs and along the east bank of the Neosho River also may be included. He said letters notifying the homeowners that they qualify would be mailed by the end of the week.

The total assessed value of the 18 houses near Riverton is $324,820. Allison said the fair-market value of the houses is the assessed value plus 15 percent. That would make the fair-market value of the 18 houses $373,543.

Benson said the fair-market value is what the owners would be offered in a buyout. FEMA would pay 75 percent of the cost, the state 10 percent, a Community Development Block Grant 10 percent, and the county or city 5 percent. The county’s share of the 18 Riverton houses would total $18,677.

Benson said paying homeowners to move elsewhere may seem like a waste of money to some, but it serves a purpose.

“We offer these people a way out of the flood plain,” he said. “These people are in a jam.”

He said the program is especially helpful to homeowners who have no flood insurance.

Benson said homeowners who receive the letters notifying them of “substantial damage,” which is damage for which repairs would cost more than 50 percent of the house’s assessed value, have three options: elevate, relocate or demolish.

He said that if the homeowner chooses to elevate the house, it must be raised to at least a foot above flood level. Relocation refers to moving a house outside the flood plain. Benson said homeowners with flood-insurance policies may receive as much as $30,000 in addition to the cost of repairs to elevate their houses or move them.

Besides the 18 houses that qualify for buyout offers, there are nine flood-damaged houses near Riverton that don’t meet the 50 percent threshold. Benson said that if those homeowners have flood insurance, their policies should pay for repairs. Those without flood insurance may receive some money from FEMA as part of a disaster declaration, but they would not be compensated for their entire loss, Benson said.

A four-month turnaround for the beginning of a buyout procedure is relatively fast, Benson said. He said many buyout programs don’t start for a year or more after a disaster. He said officials initially are concerned with responding to a disaster.