STE. GENEVIEVE GETS HELP TO PREVENT FLOOD DAMAGE

STE. GENEVIEVE -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday plans to give Ste. Genevieve nearly $700,000 to help reduce future flood losses.

The funds provided through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, will be used to acquire flood-damaged and flood-prone properties of the north and south branches of the Gabouri Creek and Mississippi River. The properties will be demolished and the land turned into flood detention and open space areas for the community.

The Ste. Genevieve project, which will cost $683,817, is part of FEMA's ongoing effort to assist local governments in acquiring and relocating flood prone-properties, said John A. Miller, director of FEMA's regional office in Kansas City. To date, similar projects have been approved in eight Midwest states involving more than 3,100 individual properties.

FEMA Director James Lee Witt said, "FEMA's goal is to eliminate the potential for future flood damage and help to prevent the kind of suffering and human tragedy that we witnessed last summer."