Westwood to Receive $1.5 Million From FEMA For Voluntary Home Buyouts For Damage During Hurricane Irene

Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez announced Tuesday that FEMA has earmarked more than $21 million in grant money for flood mitigation projects in New Jersey. 

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding for the voluntary buyouts or elevations of homes that have suffered severe flood damage due to Irene and other storms.

FEMA will provide $1.5 million for Westwood.

Westwood Administrator Robert Hoffmann told Patch the borough has already been waiting to receive the money for several months. FEMA representatives held a meeting in Westwood about the grants in December.

This federal grant will be supported by a $7 million match from state and local governments, bringing the total to more than $28 million to directly assist New Jersey families in the state’s hardest hit communities.

Lautenberg, Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which funds this FEMA grant program said in a statement, “As we work on long-term flood solutions, these federal funds will prevent damage to the most flood-prone residents and create needed open space. We will continue to fight for federal funds for disaster relief programs to help protect New Jerseyans from future floods."

In a statement released Tuesday, Menendez said, “This funding will help ensure that New Jersey homeowners who are vulnerable to floods have the tools they need to prepare for future disasters."

"It’s not only cost effective to prepare for floods on the front end, rather than do damage control after, but it can save lives and preventable hardships. I’ll continue to work to secure funding to protect New Jersey’s flood-prone homes.”