Deadline Approaching For Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
Buncombe County announced that residents can obtain funding to make their properties more resilient to long-term risk from natural hazards like floods, wildfires and storms. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is a federally funded program that works to reduce future disaster impacts through rebuilding more resiliently.
Need To Know: For property owners, HMGP offers funding for various mitigation strategies, including voluntary elevation, property mitigation reconstruction, and acquisition. In all three of these projects, FEMA provides 75% of the cost and the state pays the 25% match, there is no cost to the property owner. Buncombe County recommends submitting your application by October 15, 2025. This is earlier than the state’s final deadline of Oct. 31, giving us time to help you finalize all documentation. This program can also help property owners with landslides that threaten roads, bridges or structures with assistance with slope stabilization.
Participation in the program is entirely voluntary, and property owners may withdraw their applications at any time. HMGP is not designed to cover immediate storm repairs after Helene. Instead, it helps fund projects that make homes stronger against future disasters. With the amount of local effort needed to develop strong applications for approval, the process can be lengthy. The program does not have income requirements, and second homes and commercial properties can receive assistance if there is enough funding.
Key details about the project:
The elevation project is open to residential properties and businesses. It involves raising the property as is, demolishing the old foundation, and building a new foundation that raises the first floor approximately 2 feet above the 100-year flood elevation. In residential properties, the property owner is provided with temporary lodging while work is done on the property, and nothing is moved out of the property.
The mitigation reconstruction project is used when it is determined that a property cannot be raised due to the property's instability. For residential properties, the program will move out property furnishings, store them, provide temporary lodging, demolish the old home, build a new foundation at 2 feet above 100-year flood elevation, and build a new home on the foundation. These are contractor-grade homes with no custom furnishings.
The acquisition project is open to residential, commercial, or vacant parcels. This project buys the property from the owner at the appraised value of the property the day prior to the disaster. For residential properties, once the homeowner relocates, the home is demolished. Commercial property purchases will only include the structure (no business equipment) and the land. The property will remain as green space in perpetuity.
