Owners Of Flood-damaged ND Homes Left Wondering

The total cost of damaged homes hasn't been assessed, but nearly 800 claims have been paid out totaling $8.6 million — the bulk of it to repair damaged homes — by a Federal Emergency Management Agency program. More than 4,600 home inspections have been completed.

But government officials haven't finished assessing candidates for full buyouts. No county in North Dakota has submitted to FEMA a buyout application, which includes the county's assessment of its residents' damage. That's mainly because counties are still wading through complex FEMA software to find out who qualifies for assistance.

"It's almost like FEMA has this sum of money to give us, but we first have to do the New York Times crossword puzzle correctly," said Fargo attorney Ron McLean, among 15 homeowners in the Strehlows' neighborhood.

"We're making an offer on a house away from the river because we just can't take it anymore," he said of his decision not to come back to the home he lived in for 31 years.

In deciding who's eligible for a buyout, FEMA officials use a formula to show whether it's more cost effective to move a home out of harm's way or to pay for fixing it up and leave it with the possibility it could be damaged by a future flood.