FEMA gives more than $1 million to Glenwood for floodplain problem

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $1 million to the city of Glenwood so it can demolish homes on a floodplain in the south suburb.

The agency, managed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has released to the town $1,050,990 in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds, according to a release from FEMA issued March 20.

The money is for the acquisition and demolition of nine homes in the Thorn Creek floodplain, FEMA said.

The grant program was created to give communities a plan to prevent death or loss of property, FEMA Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez said in the statement.

“This grant is good news for the village of Glenwood and residents who have been hit by flooding many times in the past,” James K. Joseph, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said in the statement. “The residents can now move to higher ground and avoid future heartache and property losses, and local response agencies will no longer need to wage costly flood fights.”

The village of Glenwood will contribute $350,330 toward the project.