INDEPENDENCE - Buyouts could be on the horizon for many Buchanan County residents affected by flooding in June, though the totals won't begin to resemble the scale seen in neighboring counties.

About a half-dozen properties in unincorporated portions of the county could be bought using flood mitigation money provided by federal, state and county government, said Rick Wulfekuhle, the county's emergency manager. Still, the damage was "pretty minimal," he said.

"Some of these folks, they're used to and they'll handle it themselves," he said.

Most of the property is located in Littleton. There could be several more in the cities as well, but a final tally hasn't been taken. At least the city of Lamont has expressed interest in participating in the program. At least one person in Quasqueton also has expressed interest.

The Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to send a notice of interest to participate in the buyout program Monday. Wulfekuhle said he is working on a list of potential properties.

Repeated flooding over the years fueled flood mitigation plans. More than 130 properties were bought out in the county after the 1999 flooding - 69 of which were in Independence. The area where the houses stood was used to build the River Walks Parks system.

Wulfekuhle said if those properties wouldn't have been bought, they'd all be affected again by this year's deluge. Even so, the new parks and a few nearby homes were affected.

If buyouts are pursued, property owners would receive an offer similar to those seen in 1999. The county will pay 110 percent of the assessed value and offer a $10,880 moving allowance.

Few so far affected by flooding have expressed interest in buyouts. In Lamont, the city put out flyers advertising the program. A storm system that produced an EF5 tornado on May 25 also dumped 8 inches of water on the town, flooding most of it and damaging 240 homes.

Mayor Alfred Hotchkiss said no one has taken the city up on the program yet.

And getting buyout money for Buchanan County will be difficult. They'll have to compete with surrounding cities and counties, whose needs may far outweigh the people in Buchanan. In Cedar Falls, more than 200 people have said they would like to have their homes bought out. Cedar Rapids is looking at thousands of requests.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.