The Keys will get $20M for Hurricane Irma home buyout program

The state of Florida is sending $20 million to the Keys for the home buyout program created after Hurricane Irma devastated parts of Monroe County in 2017.

On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced a total of $44 million awarded to eight counties as part of its Rebuild Florida Voluntary Home Buyout.

The bulk is going to Monroe County, while Miami-Dade will receive about $4.5 million.

“This is the beginning of changing the face of the Florida Keys by eliminating high-risk properties and recreating a resilient community,” said Christine Hurley, the assistant Monroe County administrator.

Monroe was awarded $15 million on Tuesday. Marathon, which flooded during Irma, will get an additional $5 million while Islamorada will receive $208,000.

Rebuild Florida lets the county buy properties in areas that have a high risk of flooding at pre-Irma fair market prices.

The purchases guarantee no one will rebuild on the lots.

The state said the money should land in the county by May 2020.

Properties will be prioritized, starting with the most vulnerable communities in low- and moderate-income areas and those at highest risk for future flooding.

The county will demolish any existing structures and the properties will become permanent open space or used for conservation or recreation.

With this additional pot of money, the Keys has now received $105 million for Irma recovery, said county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood.

Registration for the program is closed and applicants include 62 homeowners in unincorporated Monroe.

“We are hoping, however, that we may receive an opportunity from the state to reopen the application process at some point in the future,” said Helene Wetherington, director of Monroe County Disaster Recovery.

The county could seek even more money in future grant cycles, Wetherington said.

Irma, a category 4 storm, made landfall on Cudjoe Key on Sept. 10, 2017, with 130 mph winds.

Florida had set aside $75 million to buy out flood-damaged homes. Initially, $10 million was earmarked for the Keys alone.

For additional information on the voluntary buyout program, click here.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 5:55 PM with the headline "The Keys will get $20M for Hurricane Irma home buyout program."

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.