Eight property owners in Green Lane who have been adversely impacted by recent flooding could soon find their way to high ground. Mayor Lynn Bergey announced last week that the municipality has been awarded federal funds to acquire and demolish the homes along the Macoby and Perkiomen creeks.

           The municipality will utilize $2.260 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pursue the purchase of eight the flood-prone homes, according to Bergey. She said the funds will be released in September.

            The proposal impacts seven property owners along Lumber Street and one on Gravel Pike, according to the mayor. She said late last week that two of them have already made other real estate arrangements.

            Once the borough acquires the properties and knocks down the structures, the land use must be restricted to open space for recreation, wildlife habitat or wetland in perpetuity, according to Bergey. She said the municipality's sole purpose for participation in the program is to avoid the potential loss of life by its residents and emergency responders.

            All eight property owners have applied to participate in the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program run by FEMA and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. They all had their properties appraised.

            The municipality will pay each property owner fair market value, said the mayor. She said each property owner must be a willing seller. The impact of heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida two years ago in the borough motivated municipal officials to apply for the program.

            "We've had our fill of that situation," the mayor said.  "I have anxiety every time the borough faces a flood watch. I can only imagine what the firefighters go through."

            Heavy winds and rain from the Sept. 1, 2021 storm knocked out the electricity for the entire borough. Properties on Lumber Street and Gravel Pike absorbed the greatest impact from flood water.

            Two years earlier, six inches of rain in approximately two hours damaged private and public property throughout the Upper Perkiomen Valley. Most of the damage occurred along the Macoby Creek, which starts in Lower Milford Township in Lehigh County – and runs through Upper Hanover and Marlborough townships – before emptying into the Perkiomen Creek in Green Lane.

            Emergency responders rescued 12 people from homes on Lumber Street using boats from the Red Hill, Jeffersonville, and Upper Salford fire companies, according to Tom Huguenin, Jr., deputy chief of the Green Lane Fire Company. He said approximately 25 people from that area were left homeless.