Soon, Rob and Lori Upholster won’t have to worry anymore when there’s rain in the forecast.
The Hempfield couple is getting out of their flood-prone Redgrave Drive home and buying a new house thanks to federal funding. Township supervisors this week approved buying 15 Redgrave Drive from the Upholsters for $240,000, which will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The vote marked a significant step in a yearslong process during which the Upholsters’ home has been flooded repeatedly by Slate Creek. Their backyard dips slightly lower than their neighbors’ yards, but now they can make an offer on a new house.
“We have to sign the paperwork first and once we do, the money comes up,” Rob Upholster said.
The Upholsters have been working with Hempfield Township, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for almost eight years to secure funding that would help the couple leave the flood plain on Redgrave Drive. Because the Upholsters have had what FEMA deems “severe repetitive loss,” it made them eligible for assistance.
They’ve endured 13 floods since moving there in 1996. In the past 14 months, though, they’ve been lucky.
“We had some rains,” Rob Upholster said. “I moved stuff from the basement and first floor and then we never flooded.”
The flooding frequency altered the way the Upholsters use their lower level. When they moved in, it was carpeted living space. After one flood, it was renovated to have a bar area and less carpet. Over the years, it’s slowly changed to a gym and bar with tiled flooring. They’ve had as much as 28 inches of water in the lower level.
When there’s precipitation in the forecast, the Upholsters spend hours moving items and vehicles out of the water’s reach. If Slate Creek encroaches on their home, built in 1968, it typically means hours of cleanup work and three to five months of waiting for renovations to be complete.
Once the Upholsters find a new place to live, Hempfield will more forward with buying the property.
“We will not be taking immediate action on property acquisition,” said Austin Erhard, public works director. “It’s going to be contingent upon them finding a new home.”
Once acquisition is complete, Hempfield will have 90 days to demolish the house. That work will be covered by FEMA, too. The township will retain ownership of the parcel and nothing will be built on it.