Brown Announces More Than $1.4 Million to Help Findlay Community Devastated by August 2007 Flood

WASHINGTON, DC – August 26, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that $1,428,000 has been awarded to the City of Findlay by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency. The federal funds, awarded as a Hazard Mitigation Grant, will provide the city with requested funds to acquire and remove as many as 16 flood-damaged homes near the Blanchard River.

“These funds will protect the health and safety of Hancock County residents,” said Brown. “This project helps everybody in the Findlay community reduce their losses from repeated flooding of the Blanchard River.”

The federal funds will be used to mitigate future disasters by tearing down as many as 16 homes that have been repeatedly flooded along the Blanchard River floodplain, if affected homeowners elect to participate. This will protect the citizens of Hancock County and will reduce future financial obligations of local, state, and federal governments during future floods.

Hancock County suffered 9 inches of rain in less than 18 hours in August 2007. As a result, several homes were damaged and the city of Findlay suffered severe flooding due to the overflow of the Blanchard River and its tributaries.

According to DHS, Hazard Mitigation Grant funds are used to fund projects that will reduce or eliminate the losses from future disasters. Projects must be long-term in nature and a project’s potential savings must be more than the cost of implementing the project. Funds can be used to protect buildings or structures that have been repeatedly exposed to natural damage, or to purchase property in a flood plain. Once acquired, land is returned is to open space so that flooding can occur naturally without damage to property.

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