Why The U.S. Government Is Buying And Destroying Homes

The U.S. government is buying up and destroying American homes. Homeowners in the floodplain are choosing to voluntarily sell their doomed properties to the government. Since 1989, FEMA has helped fun around 45 to 50,000 home buyouts. FEMA is estimated to have spent somewhere around $4 billion on the project so far but that’s just a fraction of the total amount spend on buyouts, since there are programs outside of FEMA. But not everyone is convinced buyouts are a good idea. Watch the video to find out how floodplain buyouts work and if they are helping or hurting American homeowners. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:39 How buyouts work 6:15 Costs 12:10 Managed retreat Produced and Edited by: Lindsey Jacobson Animation: Christina Locopo, Jason Reginato Additional Camer by: Andrea Miller Editorial Assistance from: Katherine Tarasov, Charlotte Morabito Additional footage: Getty Images, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, WCAU, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, WOWT, Andrea Jones Additional sources: FEMA, Congressional Research Service Special Thanks to: John Wendel, Debra Schooley, Doris Breitfeller, Jonathan Altino