FEMA grants provide funds to buy flood-damaged properties

RHODE ISLAND has secured more than $400,000 in federal funding to buy properties in Cumberland and West Warwick that were destroyed by the March 2010 floods, shown here in Warwick. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD
RHODE ISLAND has secured more than $400,000 in federal funding to buy properties in Cumberland and West Warwick that were destroyed by the March 2010 floods, shown here in Warwick. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s first-ever structural acquisition projects have been approved and awarded for properties in Cumberland and West Warwick damaged by the 2010 flooding, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s office announced Friday.
After the flooding, the Ocean State received a Presidential Disaster Declaration, making it eligible for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Program. Structural acquisitions are one type of mitigation project eligible for support under the grant program.
Under the approved project, a residential property in Cumberland is being purchased for $292,210 and a commercial property in West Warwick is being purchased for $254,610. Once acquired, the area is classified as a natural floodplain and all future building is prohibited.
These properties are being purchased with a combination of federal and local contributions. For the Cumberland property, $222,158 of the funds are federal and $74,052 is from the town. In West Warwick, the grant program provided $190,958 and the town provided $63,652.
“These projects are a perfect example of what we can accomplish through collaboration,” Chafee said in prepared remarks. “All levels of government have come together to assist members of the communities of Cumberland and West Warwick. The floods of 2010 taught us valuable lessons, and initiatives such as this will help ensure that we will not be caught unprepared in the future.”

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