Slow process for property buyout program leaves Helene victims in financial limbo

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — More than 500 homeowners who lost their homes during Helene are signed up for the 75% federally funded and 25% state funded property buyback program called the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

The program aims to reduce homeowners’ risk nationwide by purchasing hazardous land to ensure it is never built on again. But applicants across Buncombe, Henderson, Yancey, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, Transylvania, and Polk counties have been informed it will likely be years before the government closes on their properties.

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