By WECT Staff | May 26, 2021 at 2:32 PM EDT – Updated May 26 at 6:14 PM
PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – More than $6.5 million will go toward acquiring 31 flood-prone properties in Pender County, the State of North Carolina and FEMA announced Wednesday.
Officials say the 31 homes are located in Currie, Rocky Point, Hampstead, Burgaw and Willard, and that all of the properties are “susceptible to flooding from several sources including Moores, Beckys and Holly Shelter creeks, the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers and the Atlantic Ocean.”
The state will use funding from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to acquire the properties and convert them to open space “in order to conserve natural floodplain functions.”
“The completion of FEMA’s review and approval of the program is good news for these property owners and the communities where they live,” said Steve McGugan, State Hazard Mitigation Officer. “The next step is for the state and local governments to move through the procurement of a contractor, which will take a couple of months to complete. Once there is a contractor in place, they will need to mobilize and set up their final project management timeline so property owners can be advised on the approximate date work will be completed on their property.”
FEMA’s share for this project is $4,913,358 while North Carolina’s share is $1,637,786.
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