January 12, 2021
Dozens of people attended a meeting Monday night to learn more about how Escambia County hopes to purchase homes in the flood-prone Bristol Park and Ashbury Hills neighborhoods from willing homeowners.
Homes in the neighborhoods have flooded multiple times, including the 2014 floods and during Hurricane Sally. Now, the county is applying for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program that would allow the county to acquire the properties.
“You are not going to be forced into this program,” Steven White, senior project engineer for Mott MacDonald told the attendees at the Escambia County Extension Office in Cantonment. He said the program remains optional for homeowners up until a sales contract is signed.