FORT WASHINGTON, Md. (WUSA9) -- Seven months after a landslide forced residents out of their homes, there's finally some good news.
FEMA has come up with about $2 million for Prince George's County to condemn the homes and pay for a major slope stabilization project on Piscataway Drive.
But there were mixed reactions from homeowners Friday.
Some think the multi-million dollar FEMA grant is a god-send since insurance doesn't cover the landslide, but others suspect that after you split it among eight different families, it will be far too little to let them start over.
Tracy Rookard was overjoyed at news of the FEMA grant.
"I was like yes! Thank you!"
She's been all but homeless, moving from hotel to friends' homes since the soil collapsed from under her $400,000 river-view home in Ft. Washington.
The county condemned a half dozen homes, fearful they would slip down the hillside or be engulfed by soil rolling off the slippery Marlboro clay that lies just a few feet below.
The FEMA hazard mitigation grant pushed through by Maryland's congressional delegation is supposed to re-pay the homeowners for their loss and cover the cost of tearing down their homes.
"For those homeowners that were directly impacted, the five up… on the slope and the one that's down below, what this grant allows is that they will now have access to a process to get market value for their homes," said county spokesman Scott Peterson.
Mudslide victim Myles Cullen and his family lived in a FEMA trailer for months before he finally decided he had to rent another home -- and continuing paying the mortgage on his condemned house.
He thinks the FEMA grant is a positive development... but is waiting for details.
"We just want a chance to break even and start a new home," Cullen said.
Once it knocks down those houses, Prince George's County has set aside another $11 million to stabilize the hillside and rebuild the road to 22 other homes farther down. That work is supposed to start in the spring.
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