Checks for flooded homes will take at least 10 months

NASHVILLE -- State and local officials are working to clear homes and businesses in Nashville's floodway, but home-owners will have to wait at least 10 months before getting a check.

The Tennessean reported that more than 500 properties are located in the city's floodway, the area along a waterway most prone to damage.

Mayor Karl Dean has said the city also plans to buy about 2,500 properties that are inside the city's 100-year flood plain. There are about 650 homes in the 500-year flood plain that could also be purchased if the city can afford it.

Jeremy Heidt, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said the process takes at least 10 months if everything goes smoothly.

The properties are purchased with a combination of federal, state and local money. The typical formula involves 75 percent federal money, 12.5 percent state and 12.5 percent local, so local governments have to decide whether they can afford to match.

"They have to come up with the matching money," Heidt said. "They may not want to or be able to do that."

The total assessed value of 478 residential properties in the floodway alone is $93 million, the newspaper reported.

If the city also bought damaged properties in the 100-year flood plain, the cost could exceed $500 million.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander wants to boost the percentage paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 90 percent in a budget appropriation Congress is considering for the agency. That change would apply to property buyouts as well as repairing public infrastructure. Alexander said in a statement Friday that change "should mean tens of millions of dollars in Nashville alone."

The buyout effort is on a scale unlike any other the city has participated in. In the last five years, the city's flood mitigation program bought out 54 homes in flood-prone areas.

The program could erase some neighborhoods and align with the mayor's agenda to create more greenways and open space. Properties purchased under the federally backed program cannot be redeveloped with homes or businesses. But Dean said the program would be voluntary and they won't force property owners to participate.

"A surprising number of people are just eager to get back into their homes," he said.

But for others, the buyout plan may not be an option. There are about 8,000 flood damaged homes outside of the 100-year flood plain that will not be included in the initial buyout plan.

Metro Planning Director Rick Bernhardt said the flood has set in motion questions that will shape the future of development in Nashville.

"I think going forward we need to try as much as possible to free up the floodway and get as much development as possible out of the floodway and free up the flood plain," Bernhardt said.

Metro Councilman Darren Jernigan says one subdivision in Old Hickory had damage to all 240 homes after the riverbank eroded 15 feet in five days.

"If you saw what I saw in Waterford, there wouldn't even be a question" about limiting flood plain development, Jernigan said. "If you want an argument of property rights versus lives, I think I'll win that one."

He said he's planning to introduce local legislation to curb development in the 100-year flood plain.

But James Weaver, an attorney who often represents developers, said Nashville's government shouldn't create sweeping policies based on "extremely unusual" circumstances. The record two-day rains swelled the Cumberland River and caused it to crest at 51.86 feet on May 3, well above the 40-foot flood stage.

"Do we need to plan as a community for the Cumberland River to get to 52 feet?" he said. "If we do, then Second Avenue needs to move to Third. We put the football stadium in the wrong place. If we need to plan for 15 inches of rain on Richland Creek, we've got some $4 million homes to buy."

Continue reading by following these links to related stories:

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