By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
RIVERTON, Kan. — A federal buyout of houses damaged in flooding last June in Cherokee County is progressing, said Jason Allison, county emergency management director.
Twenty-one houses along Spring and Neosho rivers and Shoal Creek are on a list of substantially damaged properties. Included are structures in Riverton, Baxter Springs, rural Galena and Chetopa.
The term “substantially damaged” means that the cost of repairing a structure would total more than half its value.
Allison said two of the houses have been bought, and the program is scheduled to close on four more houses next month. He said the program is voluntary. If a homeowner accepts the buyout, he cannot build a permanent structure on the property in the future.
The value of the 21 houses with substantial damage is $708,482
Fourteen other structures are on a list of non-substantially damaged structures in the flood area that may be considered for buyouts. Their value totals $1,016,536.
Allison said homeowners who don’t accept the buyout must elevate their houses to a foot above the flood level in order to receive flood insurance.
Cherokee County would be required to provide a maximum of $86,251 if all the houses were approved for buyouts.
Allison said it probably seems to homeowners like a slow procedure, but he said that when the government bought out houses after the 1993 flood, no offers were made until two years later.
“I’m sure for the homeowner, it seems like an eternity,” he said.
The flood buyout program in Cherokee County is through the Kansas Division of Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and financed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Local News
Flood buyout beginning
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Cold air headed this way
The Arctic front that passed over Missouri this morning will bring dangerously cold temperatures to the region tonight and Saturday.
-
Miami, Okla., man dies along I-44
A 27-year-old Miami, Okla., who appeared to be walking along I-44 in an attempt to get help after wrecking his car, is dead after being hit by a pickup truck.
-
Mo. presidential primary sets low mark in turnout
Just 8 percent of Missouri’s registered voters cast ballots in this week’s presidential primary.
-
Okla. court upholds man’s life sentence in deaths
An Oklahoma appeals court has upheld the life in prison sentences of a man convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the shotgun slayings of two men at a Sperry residence.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
