The City of Tybee Island, a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia is highly prone to flooding. In 2017, the community was hit by Hurricane Irma, resulting in extensive flooding and damages to residential homes. FCMC works alongside the City of Tybee Island as well as GEMA and FEMA to reimburse homeowners for the costs associated with elevating their homes above the base flood elevation and out of risk for future flood loss.
- 12 repetitive loss homes approved for funding. Cost share split was 75% Federal, 10% State, 15% subrecipient (homeowner)
- HMGP applications developed and processed resulting in five elevated and flood mitigated homes
- $633,988.19 in total engineering/permitting and construction costs were reimbursed to homeowners for the duration of the project
Challenge Overview
Tybee Island is a barrier island located 18 miles east of Savannah. Due to being a low-lying barrier island, Tybee Island is vulnerable to tidal flooding. In 2017, Tybee Island was hit by Hurricane Irma and the community experienced extensive residential loss and damage due to flooding. Because of its location, Tybee Island is susceptible to repetitive loss from flooding due to hurricanes and even less severe storms. The island has several repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss properties located in special flood hazard areas (SFHA).
Projects like this where the subrecipient is a homeowner provide unique challenges. The homeowner will need to be displaced, meet the financial match requirement, and manage a construction project that is likely unfamiliar to them. Our objective was to educate and guide the homeowners through the grant lifecycle while maintaining accurate records, meet grant compliance requirements, and support the city’s goal of mitigating properties against future flood risk.
