53 Towns to Move to Higher Ground to Avert Flooding

Fifty-three Midwest communities are laying plans to move homes and businesses to higher ground at government expense to escape future floods, a federal official said Tuesday.

The first buyouts could begin by the end of November as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s plan to relocate people out of the most flood-prone areas.

Another 154 communities hit by last summer’s floods have expressed interest in the program, said Richard Krimm of FEMA’s office for state and local programs.

If all 207 communities take part, some 10,000 properties would be bought at a cost of about $400 million. The land would be turned over to local governments, which must agree to restrict its use.

The Clinton Administration has said that damage from this year’s flooding in nine Midwestern states totaled $7.6 billion.

Ninety percent of the buildings to be bought are homes, Krimm told reporters in a telephone conference. In some cases almost everyone in a town would move; in other places only a few homes would be affected.