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I. Introduction "The legacy of the Floods of 1993 and 1994 was property destruction and despair for citizens living in the floodplain. Out of this misery, the Missouri Buyout Program provided a financial and realistic avenue for citizens wishing to nwve out of the floodplain. Missouri is beginning to actively manage the floodplain and this program is one of our key management tools. " The 1993 Midwestern flood was a record-breaker both in terms of river levels and duration. Of the nine Midwestern states affected, the State of Missouri was undoubtedly the hardest hit by the flood and state officials estimate that damages totaled $3 billion. Assis- tance to an estimated 37,000 Mis- souri families on that flood alone included $41.7 million spent in Disaster Housing (DH) assistance and $23.4 million in Individual and Family Grants (IFG) to those who were uninsured. An additional $40.1 million in low interest loans had been approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to cover disaster-related losses to homeowners and businesses. Add to these figures $7.8 million in disaster unemployment and $120 million in Public Assistance to repair damaged public facilities and the costs are obviously staggering. The history of flooding in Mis- souri has caused increasing concern in recent years. The state has had thirteen presidential flood disaster declarations in the last 22 years: 1973, 1977, 1979, August 1982, December 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, May 1993, July 1993, November 1993. April 1994 and May, 1995. In other years, the state has experi- enced flooding which did not warrant a Presidential disaster declaration. Individual Assistance Grants in Missonri's 1993-94 Floods: 1993 (May) $1.8 million 1993 (August) $65.24 million 1993 (November) $2.78 million 1994 $2.11 million Over 216,000 households are located in designated floodplains in Missouri. After many of them were affected by the 1993 flood, it became clear that there was a unique window of opportunity to create more permanent solutions to the increasingly frequent flooding problems in the state. Both flood survivors and average taxpayers began to call for a way to alleviate future vulnerability to flooding. While a few states and communities were exploring such options as relocating towns or elevating individual structures, the largest response was for a buyout. Missouri, in turn, designed and implemented the largest and most effective buy-out program in the country . The Missouri Buyout Program received close to $100 million which flowed through the state to local communities in this effort. This included $30 million in FEMA 404 funds, $28 million in FEMA 406 funds for demolition due to health and safety reasons, and $42 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To create a solution which was permanent, Missouri's Governor Mel Carnahan decided that these funds were best used to buyout flood.prone properties with an emphasis on those which were primary residences. A concentration -Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan August, 1995 on this option would alleviate future problems for both homeowners, emergency managers and taxpayers alike. The Missouri Buyout Program is an exemplary program which is proactive and cost-effective. It stresses a collaborative partnership between federal, state and local governments. It's also a voluntary program which allows residents a practical solution by relocating to homes outside of the floodplain. Once the properties are cleared, the publicly-owned ground may then be used for open space purposes more consistent with the threat of repeat flooding. No one could predict that Mis- souri would get an opportunity to test out its theories of buyout effectiveness as quickly as it would when the flood of 1995 struck. The third worst flood of record in many places, the May 1995 flood was considerably less devastating than its predecessor two years earlier. Granted, it was of much shorter duration and its crests were, in general, some 2-4 feet lower than 1993. But, more importantly, there were some 2,000 families who were out ofhann's way in 1995 due to the buyout program. This report illustrates the suc- cesses of the Missouri Buyout Program and offers sufficient in- depth background for a public policy debate on continued funding of such programs.