County to get another $1.75M from FEMA for Oso slide costs

Published 6:51 pm Wednesday, October 21, 2015

EVERETT — Snohomish County will receive an additional $1.75 million in federal reimbursement to recover from the Oso mudslide, officials said Wednesday.

The assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will bring total federal and state reimbursements to more than $18 million.

The county spent about $30 million responding to the March 22, 2014, slide. That doesn’t count the state’s costs to rebuild Highway 530.

County Executive John Lovick welcomed the new funds in a statement, saying they would free up local tax dollars to support other county services.

Separately, the county is set to receive $5.9 million from FEMA for the first phase of a program to buy out properties in the slide zone. County officials expect an announcement from FEMA about a second phase of buyout grants within the next few weeks. All transactions under the program are voluntary.