Nick Johnson, Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Mills County Emergency Management Agency, said Friday, that on Thursday, April 9th, Mills County officials received notification through Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved Mills County’s application through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

The approval is the next step in the buyout process for those individuals in the unincorporated area of Mills County that were affected by the 2019 flood.Property owners that signed up and were included in the application will be notified in the coming weeks by the Mills County Auditor’s Office.

Johnson says “As we enter into the next step of the process, property owners should anticipate a thirty to forty-five day time frame to receive an official offer to purchase.”