Some Mississippi counties ravaged by flooding shut out of federal disaster dollars for buyouts

This story is part two of a three-part series on climate change in Mississippi by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

Eighty-five-year-old Dale Maxwell says the Eagle Lake community in Warren County has always been home.

After heavy rainfall in 2019, rising floodwaters led to evacuation of the picturesque community north of Vicksburg. The 2019 flooding came on the heels of major flooding in 2011 and 2008 in the area that catches water from the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers.

Maxwell’s home in Eagle Lake has flooded at least twice.“We are always worried about flooding,” said Maxwell, whose family also operates a convenience store in Eagle Lake.

A national data analysis of federal spending for natural disasters and related aid shows some communities hardest hit by hurricanes, floods and wildfires are not getting government assistance to adapt to climate change or move out of harm’s way. Some have applied for federal funding and been denied — at times more than once — only to be forced to flee from repeated hurricanes, floods and wildfires. Others face institutional and political barriers to seeking aid. What unites these pummeled communities is that they are often more socially and economically vulnerable than other places, the analysis revealed.

The Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Type Investigations report shows people of color make up more than half the residents in counties that experienced at least three climate disasters in the past five years. These counties also have a higher proportion of residents who speak limited English and people in poverty than the rest of the country.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster preparedness spending — which includes money to help people relocate — already falls short of the need, experts say. And it’s not flowing out equitably, according to the analysis by Columbia Journalism Investigations and its partners.

Hard-hit counties, places with a higher share of residents of color than the national average received about 40% less funding per person. A similar trend held over the last three decades.

Taken together, the findings highlight how, in the face of climate-driven disasters, communities across the country in the greatest need of government assistance receive less of it — if they get anything at all.

However, reporters were unable to get records from FEMA on the number of applications and denials, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Of Mississippi’s 82 counties, property owners in 18 have received buyouts for flooding over the roughly last 30 years, according to the data analysis by Columbia Journalism Investigations and its partners with federal natural disasters and related assistance.

The data analyzed, from 1989 to 2021, showed Jackson County had the highest number of buyouts with 142; followed by Warren County with 90; Grenada County, 63; Harrison County, 41; Humphreys County, 23; Lamar County, 15; Jones County, 13; Lauderdale County, 12; Washington County, 11; Quitman County, 10; Tallahatchie County, 9; Madison County, 6; Rankin County, 4; Hancock County, 3; DeSoto County, 3; Pearl River County, 2; and Simpson and Lowndes counties with one each.

FEMA’s flood-relocation program is the main option people have to move away from climate hazards. solutions to make them more resilient and reduce the impacts of climate change.”

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs, which fund “acquisitions,” commonly called “buyouts,” purchase flood-prone property at a pre-flood value on the condition the property is returned to green space. The program was not designed with climate change in mind.

Most of the federal money for buyouts and hazard mitigation in Mississippi since the late 1980s has gone to counties mostly on the Gulf Coast or in the southern part of the state. The analysis by the Columbia Journalism Investigations and partners showed that Harrison County, for example, received $88.6 million in FEMA money from 1989 to 2021 with $11.6 million of that for acquisition, Jackson County received $42.1 million with $4.1 million for acquisition, and Hancock County received $30.9 million with $1.6 million for acquisition.

Meanwhile, Warren County from 1989 to 2021, received $2.7 million with $2.3 million for acquisition, and Grenada County received $4.3 million with $2.7 million for acquisition, according to the analysis. They were the only two counties not on the Gulf Coast or in the southern part of the state to receive more than $1 million for property acquisition during the three decades. Grenada County, which had a 52% white population based on the 2020 Census, had no major flooding event from 1988 to 2017, according to FEMA data. However, there was flooding in Grenada County in 2019. Warren County, which had about 45,000 residents in 2020, had two major flooding events from 1988 to 2017. The county, with a 49% Black population and a 48% white population, also had major flooding in 2019.

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said there haven’t been specific buyouts in Eagle Lake, but there have been flood buyouts in other areas of the county.

Maxwell told the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting he hasn’t received any federal assistance for flood mitigation.

But when asked if he has thought about moving from Eagle Lake, Maxwell quickly said “no,” adding “Where would we go. We have been living here all my life.”

The roughly 4,700-acre lake area is home to roughly 600 structures and about 400 part- and full-time residents.

After the 2019 backwater flooding, Elfer said there weren’t any buyouts in Eagle Lake, but assistance was offered through grants and from private nongovernment organizations. He said the county was able to demolish about 50 flood-damaged structures and repair a good many structures.

Some homeowners were able to rebuild and elevate homes, he said, but others decided to relocate from Eagle Lake.

“If we flood again, we won’t have nearly the damage,” Elfer said.

Elfer said the county received FEMA money to repair roads and infrastructure from the 2019 flood. Some homeowners qualified for individual assistance, he said.

Although there were no buyouts, federal money was available to help full-time residents who qualified, Elfer said. Eagle Lake is a strange area because most of the structures up there are secondary homes, not  primary homes, which could impact qualification for federal assistance, Elfer said.

Warren County was one of the counties included in then-President Donald Trump’s Mississippi disaster declaration in 2019 for severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding. The disaster earmarked $2.8 million in FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant money for the counties for Clay, Humphreys, Issaquena, Lowndes, Monroe, Sharkey, Yazoo and Warren counties. The total public assistance obligated was $24 million.

Residents were able to receive roughly $2,500 to $4,000 in individual assistance to help repair damaged property.

Former Eagle Lake Fire Chief Earl Wallace said he will always have property in Eagle Lake, but he moved his permanent residence to south Vicksburg after the 2019 flood. Wallace said he didn’t seek any federal assistance for his move.

Elfer said he believes the proposed roughly $440 million Yazoo Backwater Pumps project – a combination of levees, drainage structures and pumps -- would mitigate a lot of the backwater flooding in Eagle Lake, describing the area as a huge bowl or bathtub for collecting water.

Backwater flooding in 2019 led to flood damage of 687 homes in a five-county area including Warren County, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first proposed the Yazoo Backwater Pumps project in 1941. In 2020, there was an effort to revive the project, but concerns have been raised by environmental groups about the impact the pumps project would have on wetlands.

Sierra Club of Mississippi state director Louie Miller said the project is touted as a panacea for flooding in the South Delta, but he said the project would drain and destroy more than 200,000 acres of wetlands.

“I don’t think the 17% of property that would be protected from flooding by the pumps is “anything to crow about,” Miller said.

Miller said the pumps project would mostly benefit industrial agriculture, but pumps supporters say the project would help mitigate flooding for all people in the South Delta area prone to flooding.

Miller said the focus by the federal government should be to get money on the ground to the people who need it the most.Wallace and Maxwell said they support the project, but they know there is no guarantee it will ever be built.