FEMA buyout may be only form of flood relief

March 18--Efforts are under way to offer a solution for residents along a county road near Owensboro that sustains heavy flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may ultimately buy at least 10 houses on Wyndcrest Drive under the auspices of disaster relief. Residents say heavy rains can leave up to 3 feet of standing water in that area, causing property damage and cutting off access to the one-way road's only exit.

Daviess Fiscal Court approved a measure Thursday that would authorize it to demolish the structures and maintain the property if those acquisitions took place.

Emergency Management Agency Director Andy Ball said his office declared a state of emergency last July after heavy storms had downed trees and damaged utility lines in the county. It gave officials what they needed to bring a case to FEMA for help.

"There have been problems with flooding in that area for as long as anyone can remember," Ball said. "But up until recently, there wasn't much the county could do to help."

Developers began building in the area north of Kentucky 56 and the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport in the 1960s. Wyndcrest Drive was a single-access road the county had built to serve several of the houses cropping up in that area. Little did they know at the time, Ball said, that Rhodes Creek to the north had only a slight elevation change and could overflow at a moment's notice.

Since then, the area has undergone some major developments, including newer subdivisions at a higher elevation farther north on Worthington Road and the construction of a roundabout at Kentucky 81 and Kentucky 56. And residents there claim those projects have only exacerbated the problem.

"It's basically a soup bowl," Ball said. "You take that coupled with the near-zero elevation change and the shape of that road and it's no wonder it floods there. There's nowhere for the water to go."

Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said area residents had been taking their case before the court for years, but to little avail. It had been his understanding that FEMA would only get involved if residents could show proof of damage with flood insurance claims. But residents, he said, didn't want their insurance rates to skyrocket.

That's where the disaster declaration became important, Mattingly said. The county mailed out 11 notices of voluntary interest to residents along Wyndcrest Drive in January and they received 10 signatures in return. That gives FEMA permission to make offers on those 10 properties without taking into account the severe flooding.

"The fact that they sit in a floodplain won't be assessed in their property values," Mattingly said. "It guarantees them the best deals possible."

And its exactly what Debbie Baker has been waiting for.

Baker, who lives on Wyndcrest Drive with her 96-year-old father, says she loves everything about her home -- except when it floods.

"There will be water everywhere," she said, "I mean everywhere. It makes it look like we're sitting in the middle of a river."

Flood waters, she said, have rotted out the floorboards on at least three sheds in her backyard and trapped her in the house more times than she can remember.

"It can come up to your waist in the middle of the road," she said. "There's no way a little car is getting through that."

It's a relief, she said, to know there could be a solution on its way.

But right next door, Joann and Don Clary have a different take on the buy-out plan. The couple has lived on Wyndcrest Drive for 50 years. They raised their children there, and it's become more than just a house, they say; it's a home. Joann Clary said she signed on to the notice of voluntary interest, but only because she felt like she had to. The letter, she said, stated that after a 15-day window, FEMA would no longer negotiate.

"We have a price," she said. "But obviously we're not going to get it. They're going to try and get this house for as cheap as they can. So we're staying put. We're not leaving without kicking and screaming first."

Sure, she said, there's bad flooding on Wyndcrest Drive. The couple used to tie a little boat to the porch and use it to ferry their kids to school when the creeks would rise. But it's never been something they can't handle, and it's definitely not something they're willing to lose their home over.

"I don't understand why they won't consider something else," Clary said. "There has to be some reason the county wants this property."

Both Mattingly and Ball denied any ulterior motives. The plan, they say, is just a response to years of complaints they've received about bad flooding in the area.

The county entered into an agreement with the U.S. Corps of Engineers last year to study flooding along Panther Creek, but an amendment included looking for possible solutions at Rhodes Creek as well. The study, officials say, found that the county would have to spend about $10 million to cut back on the floodwaters by just 6 inches.

In contrast, the FEMA-Daviess County acquisition agreement would cost $1.2 million at the most, and the county would only be responsible for a percentage of that -- about $156,000.

"It's a no-brainer," Mattingly said. "There's no way we're going to spend $10 million on $1 million worth of homes. The taxpayers wouldn't stand for it."

It's up to each homeowner whether they agree to the FEMA buyout, but the Clarys say they worry that if they own the only house left on the street, the county will stop paying to maintain it. That's a part of the story, Ball said, that remains up in the air.

Fiscal Court would make the final decision, and Commissioner George Wathen, who represents the western district of Daviess County, says he would vote to continue maintenance, unless something major happened to change his mind.

"It's a matter of principle," he said. "I just feel like it would be the right thing to do."

But Mattingly said his vote would be "no." In that scenario, he said, the county would have given the homeowners plenty of other opportunities, and it just wouldn't be worth it to maintain an already damaged road for a single house.

Austin Ramsey, 270-691-7302, [email protected], Twitter: @austinrramsey

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