Panama City works to participate in new home buyout program for Hurricane Sally victims

PANAMA CITY − More help might be around the corner for residents still grappling with challenges created by a recent natural disaster.

In a City Commission meeting on Tuesday, local officials announced Panama City is working to participate in another voluntary home buyout program, but it will be for properties experiencing "repetitive loss" from Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm that struck the Panhandle in September 2020.

The city already is participating in a similar program for properties affected by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that hit in October 2018. The programs are offered to affected counties by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

DEO allocated about $22 million for the Hurricane Sally program to purchase properties damaged by the storm that still repeatedly flood.

"This has been a wildly successful program with regards to Hurricane Michael," City Manager Mark McQueen said. "It's an awesome opportunity for our citizens who have experienced repetitive losses."

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According to Jennifer Aldridge, disaster recovery project manager for Panama City, the city will gather information from now until the end of March on how many local residents are interested in participating in the new program.

It will then use that information to apply with DEO, which will announce awards to local governments in May.

"The purpose of the voluntary home buyout program is to purchase more residential properties that are clustered," Aldridge said. "We can purchase homes that are not clustered, but (the) main goal of this is to purchase homes that are more clustered in areas that are subject to flooding quite frequently."

The program also saves residents the hassle of listing properties for sale and dealing with any devaluation caused by storm and flood damages. Land purchased through the program will be converted into green spaces.

Interested residents and invited to attend a "kickoff meeting" on Feb. 21 at 5:15 p.m. It will be held at City Hall in Room 10.

Commissioner Josh Street noted the city has closed on 12 out of 21 homes in the Hurricane Michael program.

"Everyone I've talked to has been ecstatic," Street said. "There's a lot of momentum going on in this department. I know flooding is not the easiest thing in the world to resolve. It's actually one of the most difficult things we have to do as a city.

"I'm so glad we're putting together this (new) application."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City working to participate in new home buyout program