Editorial: Make home buyouts part of flood recovery

AFTER FLOODING in May 2010 caused $2 billion in damage to businesses and homes in and around Nashville, Tennessee, local leaders there took several steps to avoid a similar catastrophe. Under one program, city officials used federal emergency funds to buy more than 200 severely damaged houses in the most flood-prone areas.

Today, many homeowners across Richland and Lexington counties whose homes were damaged in October’s historic flooding hope a similar program is offered here. We believe it should be.

Money for such a program could come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Local officials in the two counties can apply for FEMA aid because President Obama declared many sections of South Carolina a federal disaster area after the early October floods. FEMA would pay for 75 percent of a recovery project, which means local governments must find the remaining 25 percent.

Richland County, the city of Columbia and Lexington County are leaning toward applying for the FEMA aid. One option for spending the money could be a home buyout program.

We understand — and expect — that local officials must carefully consider how to the money would be spent. The floods created widespread damage throughout the community. Sections of roads were washed away, and dozens of dams were broken. FEMA money could be sought for a wide range of projects.

But we think a key component of the region’s efforts to avoid future flooding problems is a program to ensure people in the worst-hit areas do not move back in.

Some may oppose using government money to help people who bought homes near bodies of water and who did not buy flood insurance. That’s a reasonable point of view. But by not helping people in the worst-hit areas, local officials encourage them to repair their homes and either move back in or sell the structures to other families.

Even if they purchase flood insurance for the new homes, the taxpayers will be on the hook if those neighborhoods are flooded again, because the federal government provides a huge subsidy for that program — perhaps too huge. More significantly, homeowners’ lives once again would be endangered — as would be the lives of emergency responders, neighbors who try to help, and many others.

We still remember stories of people who suddenly found themselves stranded on rooftops or on the upper floors of their houses in the October floods. Many emergency responders and members of the public risked their lives to rescue those stranded residents and guide them to safety.

Now, many of those homeowners are trying to decide whether to repair their homes. One told The State that if he is offered a government buyout, he would not rebuild. He knows it could be 18 months before the FEMA money is available, but he’s willing to wait if he knows the money will be coming.

In Nashville, local officials adopted a home buyout program soon after the floods hit. It helped those homeowners still paying off mortgages, and it helped everyone move on, officials said.

Richland and Lexington officials would have to work out details of a home buyout program, including who would be eligible and how much money is available. If FEMA money is used, those officials also would have to find the 25 percent match.

But any strategy for avoiding a repeat of the problems created in October must include removing houses from the most dangerous flood-prone areas. In the next flood, we prefer that weeds, grass and a few trees be washed away, not homes, lifetime possessions and, possibly, human lives.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Editorial: Make home buyouts part of flood recovery."