Flood-stricken historic town mulls federal buyouts again

[...] under Federal Emergency Management Agency rules, the four-person town council will vote soon on which of three options to offer homeowners: elevate homes, repair damaged homes or let FEMA acquire the homes of people who want out.

A state Division of Emergency Management spokeswoman says she's unaware of any other governments wrestling with the decision.

Settled at the end of the Civil War by freed slaves — the first town in the U.S. incorporated by African-Americans — Princeville is still almost entirely black and has a per-capita income less than half the national average.

State historians say there's some evidence that white landowners encouraged the freed slaves to stay on that swampy, unusable land, away from the white residents of Tarboro just across the Tar River.

[...] the council wanted to keep the town intact and use the federal money to extend and improve the town's protective dike.

A March 2014 report from the Army Corps of Engineers outlines multiple studies that have been done on the project over the years.

[...] any debts such as a mortgage or a Small Business Administration loan are deducted from the payout to homeowners.

"People gifted me with that," she says, pointing to a glass bowl with a red stripe and fruit painted around it.