Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP): Reducing Future Risks After Disasters
Buncombe County residents can receive funding to make their properties more resilient through 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 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.
- 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 temporary lodging while work is done on the property, nothing is moved out of the property.
- The mitigation reconstruction project is used when it is determined a property cannot be raised due to the property's instability. For rresidential 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 greenspace into perpetuity.
This program can also help property owners with landslides that threaten roads, bridges or structures with assistance with slope stabilization.
Second homes and commercial properties can be mitigated by this grant, pending available funding. Primary homes are prioritized, but the state expects available funding will be sufficient to extend beyond priority one project types and counties.
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.
Have more questions? Visit this page with resources and FAQs.
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.
Related Resources
What You Need to Know About Debris Removal
USDA: Emergency Watershed Protection Program
For more information on this and other Helene recovery resources, contact the One Buncombe Call Center at 828-250-6100. The call center is available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
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