Pierce County has been awarded a $1 million federal grant to acquire, demolish and restore the sites of five Puyallup River-area properties that were damaged in the January 2009 floods.

The properties are located in the Riverside and Clear Creek areas, south of State Route 167 and west of the City of Puyallup.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Friday that it will release the funds from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in partnership with the Washington Emergency Management Division.

“Pierce County has a comprehensive flood hazard mitigation strategy and is working diligently to reduce flood risk to their residents,” said FEMA Regional Administrator Kenneth Murphy. “The goal of this project is to permanently eliminate the risk to people from flooding by purchasing repetitively flooded and substantially damaged properties. The acquired structures will be demolished and the site restored and retained as permanent open space.”

“Our goal is to make our state disaster resistant,” said Jim Mullen, director of the state Emergency Management Division. “This federal grant helps finance a project that will eliminate future flood damage to these properties and get us another step closer to our goal.”

FEMA will contribute 75 percent of the $1.43 million project cost. Pierce County will contribute half of the required matching funds from cash reserves, with Washington state providing the remainder. The grant program provides funding for cost-effective projects designed to prevent damage and injuries in future disasters. Property acquisition projects are one of many forms of hazard mitigation assistance available through FEMA programs and present a critical opportunity to reduce the risk to individuals and property that can be caused by future disasters. For more information, visit http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/hmgp/index.shtm .