Almost two years after the historic flood of September 2009, Cobb County has moved a step closer to recovery.
On Wednesday the county demolished the first of 50 homes it purchased as part of a federal grant program to buy out eligible homeowners in the 100-year floodplain whose homes were substantially damaged.
First to go was Mark Cannon’s home on Fairfield Court in Marietta. The two-story pale blue house on an overgrown lot dropped almost $73,000 in value to $74,180 after the flood damaged the house, according to county tax records.
As a crew began razing the garage, the roar of a bulldozer and the crunch of siding echoed along the street.
"I'm so happy for him. He was hit the hardest out of all of us," neighbor Cynthia Thedford said of Cannon. Efforts to reach Cannon were unsuccessful.
Cobb received $8.3 million in federal funds to buy out about 50 homeowners whose properties were in the floodplain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing 75 percent of the funds, 10 percent is provided by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and Cobb is responsible for funding the remaining 15 percent.
Once the homes are demolished, the county and cities must maintain the land as green space and it can't be built on again, according to the provisions of the grant.
The demolitions are bittersweet for Daniel and Denise Quinones. Their home on Brass Drive in the Austell area is second on the demolition list, with a tear-down date of June 20.
The two-story home, neat with a manicured lawn and pink flowers in the yard in pre-flood pictures, was the family’s first home in Georgia after they moved from New York.
“This was our home for 11 years. The home where my granddaughters were born, where my father came from Puerto Rico and lived until he died, where my children grew up,” said Denise Quinones, 49, who plans to be at the demolition. “To lose all that is unlike anything I had ever been through.”
The Quinones family was one of the lucky few who had flood insurance and received a FEMA grant to rebuild before lingering flooding and a sewer backup made them eligible for the buyout program. The family was able to pay off its mortgage and purchase a new home in Austell.
In areas around Sweetwater Creek, where the damage was greatest, many homes remain vacant and more have gone into foreclosure or are for sale. In Austell, where the flood damaged more than 700 homes and businesses, the flood’s impact lingers with the loss of property taxes and other housing-related revenues like water and gas collections.
“It’ll be about two more years before things get back to normal,” said Randy Bowens, Austell’s public works director.
Austell is handling its own buyout program and demolition process, which is trailing Cobb’s. The city came under fire last fall for missing an early deadline that could have put its FEMA application on a fast track for funding.
The city has not yet put out a bid for demolition of the 23 homes eligible for the $2.9 million in buyout funds. The City Council has to approve the bid, which could be ready next week, before soliciting companies, Bowens said.
The first round of 14 homes Cobb has acquired must be demolished by Sept. 26, according to the demolition contract.
Cobb and Austell have submitted updated flood data and maps to GEMA and FEMA that would make an additional 33 homes in the county and 61 homes in Austell eligible for a possible second round of buyouts.
Flood facts
The 2009 floods resulted from prolonged rainfall that occurred Sept. 16-22.
• 17 Georgia counties were declared federal disaster areas.
• 10 people died in the floods.
• More than 2,000 homes and business were destroyed, including about 700 in Austell alone.
• The state insurance commissioner estimated damages at $500 million.
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