UPDATE: Friday, July 17, 2009 --- 9:30 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

More than a year after floods turned their lives upside down help is finally coming for some in our area.

Help to the tune of 2-million dollars is flowing into Reedsburg.

It's been a long wait for good news and a wait that frankly had a lot of people angry but the reality is that a year isn't that long to get this kind of cash. It's money that will finally help these families move on.

The neighborhood has turned into a ghost town. Grass is uncut, windows washed out and the future spelled out, sticker by sticker.

Deb Owen says, "I avoid going down there a lot. It really makes us feel bad."

Last June flood waters took over Reedsburg forcing residents out, many with no choice but to stay out. Their homes were condemned.

For more than a year this is how Granite Street has looked as home owners waited for buyouts from FEMA. It's the same story across town.

You don't have to look hard to see the damage and the pain flood waters caused these homeowners. All they can do now is look in from the outside and they're anxious to move forward.

Help has finally arrived in the form of almost 2-million dollars from FEMA.

Owen says, "It just makes the future seem a little brighter."

Owen is one of 18 homeowners and 2 business owners in line to get the cash for their old property.

We first met Owen when she was moving into her new place a few days after the flood. She and her husband have had money stuck into both homes for more than a year.

Owen says, "It should help a lot just to get our feet on the ground and get a down payment on this house so we don't feel quite so in debt for such a long future."

Her husband Jeff Owen says, "It's just another step toward the completion of it all, the closure of it all."

It's closure they've wanted for more than a year.

Mayor Carol Held says, "Very anxious, some very angry, they really thought we had the money and we were sitting on it and of course we didn't. We didn't have the money."

It will be at least a couple months before homeowners get the money. The next step is appraisals on the condemned homes.

Eventually when the city buys them all they'll tear them down and leave the area as open land.

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UPDATED Friday, July 17, 2009 --- 1:30 p.m.

Press Release from FEMA:

CHICAGO – The U.S Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today released $1,952,078 in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to the city of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, for the acquisition and removal of 20 structures.

“This project will ensure the health, safety and welfare of the people who lived in these homes,” said Janet M. Odeshoo, acting regional administrator, FEMA Region V. “The acquisition will help prevent future structural losses, emergency repair costs and the financial obligations of federal, state and local governments.”

HMGP funds will be used to remove these homes from a flood-prone area, returning the area to open space in perpetuity. HMGP projects like this one are the cornerstone of disaster prevention efforts, and illustrate the importance of local, state and federal governments working together for the benefit of citizens.

“We continue to deal with the after effects of the devastating 2008 flooding,” said Wisconsin Emergency Management Acting Administrator Steve Peterson. “This funding will help many families impacted by the floods in the Reedsburg area to start over.”

HMGP provides grants to state and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures. Through HMGP, FEMA will pay 75 percent of the project costs. The state of Wisconsin and the city of Reedsburg will each provide $325,346 towards the project. The Wisconsin Department of Commerce is providing the city with a Community Development Block Grant for the local match.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

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Posted Wednesday, July 9, 2008 --- 6:00pm
Reporter: Dana Brueck

"You go through almost like a mourning period," Deb Owen says.

Families forced to say goodbye to their homes face an uncertain future.

A row of homes sits almost deserted -- condemned by the City of Reedsburg after last month's flooding.

"We went to Wal-Mart," Owen says.

Daily life for Deb Owen these days is about getting back to basics.

"Had to get rugs, all new curtains ... rods... things like that."

The Owen family home of more than 20 years is empty ... slapped with a sticker that says condemned.

"You just feel like you're starting over."

Owen's ready to start a new life in a new place, unwilling to risk a return to Granite Avenue.

"You see how the River has changed. You're just fearful for when that will happen again."

As you can see, how people feel about the situation here on Granite Avenue is clear. In total, the city has condemned more than a dozen homes as well as two businesses.

"I think a lot of people are angry, but it's more fear... 'cause you just don't know what's going to happen," Owen says.

"We're just hauling junk is what we're doing," John Brylla says. Brylla is living with his brother while he tries to clean up the family's home since 1956. It's been condemned, but Brylla says he would rather remodel than relocate.

"One bedroom apartment, they want $500 for that," he says.

Owen also is waiting to learn how the process will affect her financially. The family's renting -- with some help through FEMA.

"We're hoping by the first of the year everything will be situated... we can possibly buy," she says.

But, in the meantime, Owen's just thankful to get back to basics, back to normal.

"God has really blessed us with this beautiful home ... wait and see," Owen says.

Reedsburg's building inspector says the city is applying for a hazard mitigation grant in hopes of buying out the homes. He says it would be difficult for owners to make repairs because a permit would require them to raise their homes and to ensure dry land access.