Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP): Reducing Future Risks After Disasters
Buncombe County residents can receive funding to make their homes more resilient through home projects that reduce the long-term risk and impacts of natural hazards, such as floods, wildfires, and storms.
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is a FEMA-funded initiative aimed at reducing or eliminating future damages and losses following a disaster. While federally funded, the program is managed in North Carolina by the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Emergency Management.
For property owners, HMGP offers funding for various mitigation strategies, including elevation, home mitigation reconstruction, and acquisition.
- The elevation project raises the home as is, demolishes the old foundation, and builds a new foundation that raises the first floor approximately 2 feet above the 100-year flood elevation. In this project, the homeowner is provided temporary lodging while work is done on the home, nothing is moved out of the home.
- The mitigation reconstruction project is used when it is determined a home cannot be raised due to the home’s instability. The program will move out all the household furnishings and 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, no custom furnishings.
- The acquisition project buys the property from the homeowner, at the value of the property the day prior to the disaster, once the homeowner relocates, the home is demolished, and the property remains as greenspace into perpetuity.
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 homeowner.
The program does not have an income requirement and is intended to assist all of those impacted by the disaster.
Participation in the program is entirely voluntary and property owners may withdraw their applications anytime.
How to Apply
Follow these steps to apply:
1. Watch this 8-minute video.
2. Complete the 5-minute Grant Information Request.
3. After receiving an email from a Hazard Mitigation team member, complete and return the application as instructed in the email.
4. Be approved by the local government (town or county) for inclusion in their application to FEMA.
In-person assistance: visit the Asheville Mall on Nov.11-15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Staff will be on-site to answer questions and accept applications. No appointment is necessary. Please note that all individuals listed on the property deed must sign the application. Other in-person oportunities will be announced soon.