Preparing for Potential Flooding on the Green River SEATTLE, WA (KPLU) - The cities of Kent and Auburn are handing out free sandbags to residents, urging them to protect their property from flooding. Up to 100 bags per household are being distributed Thursday at Kent's city operations facility. Residents have to fill them themselves with sand at five filling stations in the city. Auburn is limiting residents to 30 bags per trip at two locations and providing tools and sand. Officials have been warning residents along the Green River to protect their homes because of a 1-in-3 chance of flooding this winter. The Army Corps of Engineers says the weakened Howard Hanson Dam will be unable to hold a full reservoir during a heavy rain.

Meantime communities in the Green River Valley are calling for storm sensors for the Howard Hanson Dam. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is installing new weather sensors on the Washington coast Thursday. The Seattle Times reports the goal is to improve understanding of weather events like the Pineapple Express, which brings heavy rains and severe flooding. Officials in Auburn, Kent, Renton and Tukwila are pushing the feds for more money to set up two similar sensor stations near the Green River watershed, to help forecast - and possibly mitigate - floods this winter. © Copyright 2012, KPLU