Dare to apply for FEMA grant to pay for purchase, demolition of threatened Rodanthe houses

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com

The Dare County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to apply for a FEMA grant that could be used to buyout oceanfront houses threatened by rapid beach erosion along Rodanthe.

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant would be used to target around 20 properties in Rodanthe that are located close to the ocean and within 300 feet of stable vegetation, according to Barton Grover, Dare County’s Grants and Waterways Administrator.

Averaging 14 feet per year and as much as 20 feet in some sections of beach, Rodanthe has one of the highest erosion rates on the East Coast, and in recent years, it has accelerated.

Homes that had wide stretches of beach out front when purchased several decades ago are now sitting at the edge of, or in, the surf.

Ten houses have collapsed since 2020, including three over a five-day period last month alone, with around an additional two dozen considered to be in imminent danger.

Debris from the collapsed houses spread as far south as Buxton, and well into Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to the north.

The National Park Service purchased two threatened homes and demolished them last November, using funds acquired by the Department of Interior from offshore oil and gas drilling leases.

Nourishing the beach off Rodanthe has been discussed, but county leaders have been unable to move forward due to funding challenges for what is expected to be an initial project costing around $40 million as of 2023, and a total of $120 million over a 15 years that included maintenance projects.

FEMA denied a grant application in July for $40 million, while creation of a special property tax district in Rodanthe would only generate $1 million, according to last year’s estimate.

And as of July 2023, there was around $6 million available for use in Rodanthe from the county’s beach nourishment fund collected from the hotel/motel/vacation rental occupancy tax.

Grover explained on Monday the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant would be for homeowners in Rodanthe who are both insured and have experienced repetitive flood losses with at least two claims, or severe repetitive flood losses with four or more claims.

“This is a purely voluntary program for eligible property owners,” Grover said. “The FEMA grant would cover 100% of the costs for severe repetitive loss properties.”

“If they’re just repetitive loss, they’re just eligible for 90% and we would need to find funding from either the homeowner themselves or maybe the state,” Grover said.

According to an email sent by the county on Wednesday, the grant program could provide up to $360,000 per property to cover the costs of acquisition, demolition and other related expenses.

Grover told commissioners a project development specialist recently hired by North Carolina Emergency Management is already reaching out to eligible homeowners.

But the FEMA grants typically take three to four years from application to award, and any acquisition or demolition must occur after the grant is awarded.

The lengthy process aligns with the county’s recent experience with the Hurricane Dorian home elevation project, which was initiated in 2019 and is just now reaching the implementation phase.

“That timeframe is troubling for our current problems, but we felt like if we didn’t start, we never would get in the funding cycle to get it,” said County Manager Bobby Outten.

“We may not be able to do something in the short run, but in the long run, that problem is not going to go away until we nourish the beach or do something,” Outten said. “So these funds will help us down the road.”