Pequannock homes to be elevated to help alleviate flood risks

There will finally be some relief in sight for some Morris County homeowners who live in flood-prone areas.
A FEMA grant will allow many homes in Pequannock to be elevated at little or no cost to the homeowners.
Residents on Roosevelt Street say that they couldn’t be happier to see the construction.
“We're very excited about this flood elevation grant program that's started in our neighborhood,” says Pequannock Flood Advisory Committee Vice Chairman Nicholas DeStefano. “It’s a long time coming."
DeStefano says that he has spent years working to secure the grants to help protect his neighbors from constant flooding.
“Our year was Irene. 2011 was the big flood that we had. That's when as a member of the flood committee, we started looking into any opportunity that could help our residents the most,” he says.
Two FEMA grants, totaling $10 million, will help to elevate about 50 homes in the town.
“The municipality is awarded the funding, and then you hire the people to do the elevation and do any of the other work that needs to be done. And then you get reimbursed,” DeStefano says.
The committee is working on an application for another FEMA grant to be able to work on more homes in town. The committee says that it is a move that will protect those houses and also lower the cost of flood insurance, raise property values and provide homeowners with peace of mind.
“God forbid we have another large-scale flood event,” DeStefano says. “It's not ripping rugs out, floors and sheetrock, just move back in — and that's the point of this."
The committee says that it hopes to eventually get enough grant money to raise all of the homes in town, or at least all of the homes in flood areas. But that could take years.