To comply with the 2010 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) guidelines declaring Magnolia Village MHC in Yuma, Arizona is in a flood plain, replacement homes for the over-55 residents will have to be elevated four feet. To satisfy the National Flood Insurance Program, homes that will cost more than 50 percent of their value to repair need to be replaced, which include many since the community began in the early 1970s. FEMA says the East Main Canal that borders one side of Magnolia could flood three feet high into the community. Scott Pray, an employee of the Yuma County Water Users Association, says the canal is shallow and wide and has a solid, wide bank, and with the main gate a mile away water could easily be shut off. Many of the residents walk with assistive devices, and would have to climb six feet of steps. A wheelchair would require a sixty-foot ramp. The YumaSun tells MHProNews.com the city is concerned that homes sitting on concrete blocks would be vulnerable to earthquakes and high winds. Optional solutions will require federal and state approval.
