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Letter to Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - On Giving Critical Buyouts to Flood Prone Areas

Letter

Date: Jan. 28, 2016
Issues: Government Operations Housing and Property

Dear Administrator Fugate:

I write to urge you to issue final approval for the buyouts in the City of Oneida as quickly as possible, and to ensure that homeowners receive the maximum possible amount of funding to which they are entitled.

As you know, excessive rainfall in June 2013 caused the Oneida Creek to crest at over seventeen feet and to flood into homes in "the flats" neighborhood in the fourth ward of the city. Areas in the flats were covered with up to six feet of water. Many residents were forced to evacuate their homes when they were inundated with floodwaters. Homes and belongings were severely damaged or destroyed altogether in the flooding.

The New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services submitted a request for the acquisition and demolition of 156 properties in the City of Oneida last year. In December, FEMA indicated its intent to buy out the properties, and began moving the proposal through the public comment and final approval process. I appreciate FEMA's attention to this important proposal, and I urge FEMA to complete its review and approve the application as expeditiously as possible and to ensure that the community members receive the maximum possible amount of funding to which they are due. The buyouts of these flood-prone properties will serve as a way to permanently remove these homes from the floodplain, and create open space where future development will be prohibited.

More than two years after the disaster, residents are still working to rebuild, and these buyouts will go a long way toward helping residents return back to normal and moving homes out of this vulnerable, low-lying area to ensure that this disastrous flooding of these homes does not happen again. Thank you again for your attention to this important issue. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer

United States Senator


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