When residents of Rio Verde Mobile Home Estates heard that they couldn’t obtain flood insurance without additional work on their manufactured homes, alarm bells went off.

According to Sarah Miller, the City of Auburn’s emergency preparedness manager, the information was wrong, and the concern unfounded.

“An insurance agent who they invited to come speak to them initially gave them bad information,” Miller said. “They were told their homes needed to be affixed and anchored. The agent has since figured out that his information was wrong and is working with several individual home owners there to see if they are properly anchored and can be insured.”

Rio Verde Mobile Estates at 1402 22nd St. NE, a stone’s throw from Isaac Evans Park and the Green River, is not located in the special flood hazard area that calls for measures beyond fixing the building to a permanent foundation to qualify for flood insurance.

The River Mobile Estates at 3611 I St. NE, however, is in a special flood hazard area and does require tie downs in addition to being affixed to a permanent foundation. The misinformation proved all the the more alarming coming as it did amid warnings from the Army Corps of Engineers that the capacity of Howard Hansen Dam to hold back high waters likely will remain compromised throughout this fall and winter because of the reservoir’s impaired holding capacity.

Below is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) actually has written about flood insurance for mobile home parks. Local agents have confirmed that their underwriters are using this same information to make determinations.

• Manufactured homes that are not in special flood hazard areas must be affixed to a permanent foundation in order to be eligible for flood insurance. This should include all of the homes at Rio Verde.

• Manufactured homes that are in the special flood hazard areas must be affixed to a permanent foundation and be anchored in order to eligible for flood insurance. This should include most, but not all, of the homes at The River Mobile Estates.

Miller said the City is working to determine how many homeowners are eligible for flood insurance, how much it would cost to make them eligible and how to help residents pay for the work.

“We have not heard from anyone as of today in the city, including these parks, who has actually applied for flood insurance and been denied,” Miller said. “I have talked to people who believe they are going to be denied but haven’t actually been denied.”

“Everybody has been in sort of a panic mode because of the problems with Howard Hanson dam,” said Auburn City Councilman Gene Cerino, a Rio Verde resident. “Several people got information from their insurance agent that insurance would not be issued to any mobile home in a mobile home park that did not have tie downs. In actuality, there is a definition of mobile home parks that are in a flood danger zone and those that are not, and if you live in a flood danger zone, you must have a secured foundation and tie downs. My experience when I first applied for homeowners insurance, however, was that my insurance company gave me a different rate on my insurance because I do have tie downs.”

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries regulates mobile home parks.