The Manufactured Housing Forums

I'd like to know what the MFH industry has done to make manufactured homes safer during hurricanes.
After watching the disaster in Punta Gorda I am wondering whether or not it would be safe for me to purchase a manufactured home in the Florida or any sourthern coastal area.
The news said that most of the manufactured homes in Punta Gorda were either heavily damaged or wiped out by this hurricane. They didn't mention traditional home damage.
Also can you get hurricane insurance for manufactured homes?
I'm looking for information on cost, saftey vs. risk.

Thanks,
Debbie W.

What they don't mention is the age of the homes that were destroyed. Older homes typically did not have the strapping and tie downs that are now required.
Homes that were destroyed when Andrew came through had to be rebuilt to much higher wind and airborne debris standards, mobiles homes did not.

Another part of the problem is that most site built homes are built on a slab, there is no air path under the home as there is with a mobile home, which typically has skirting that is easily ripped off in even an average florida thunderstom.

As for obtaining insurance, you can get hurricane coverage on a mobile home. But you cannot get ANY hurricane coverage once a storm has reached a certain point north. I forget the exact point, 27 degrees north comes to mind, but that may not be right.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay in my 2004 modular during cat 1-3 storm, but wouldn't dream of it in the '83 mobile I moved out of.

MH gets a lot of bad press during tornados and hurricane's. Living in Oklahoma we hear all the time that a mobile home was destroyed by high winds but they never say a site built home was destroyed. A large number of MH are placed in rural areas with little protection. Three things will make a MH as safe as a site built. It needs to be constructed to withstand local conditions, it needs to be set up and tied down correctly and it needs a solid skirting, brick, rock or something somilar so air will not get under the house and lift it.

Punta Gorta has 31 manufactured home parks..some directly on the bay..most are older parks full with pre-HUD homes...Watch the pictures well...there were many new condos..many site builts (very few site builts are directly on the coast)..shopping centers..hospitals..police stations..fire houses..even emergency operations centers that were destroyed...for that matter one emergency evacuation center with 1200 folks in had its roof destroyed..A category 4 storm will destroy almost anything in its path..unfortunately there was a 1000 unit manufactured home park in its path...it just have well have been a 1000 unit tract subdivision and it would have been destroyed..Notice also in the pics...even in the park with 1000 homes only a few were totally wiped out..

The press over estimated the loss of life...Saturday morning they were talking about 100's of dead folks in Punta Gorta...Now they are talking about 12 dead in all of Florida..some as far away as Orlando..Some in manufactured homes..some in businesses..some in condos..some in autos..some in site built homes...

Also remember many of the manufactured homes destroyed in Punta Gorta were 40 years old...there has been no storm there in over 44 years...

The thing for new residents in Florida to understand is if a category 4 or 5 storm is coming your way...get out of there..These storms are rare...but they do happen..

Thank you all for you information and feedback. I live in California and apparently don't get the exact same news coverage..or have not caught it all. The news I saw seemed fixated on that large MFH park. None of it has addressed the information you have provided.
Your information and perspective was reassuring that if I did move to Florida for retirement I could still consider a MFH following some of your advice on how I place it on site.

I was going to point out what we saw on the news here in Seattle, and on Fox cable news, but RMurray said it better.

One question: I heard the end of a report where a guy in FL was talking about the availability of having "safe rooms" built into a home that can withstand gale forces up to 250 MPH. What is that, Category 10?! Does anyone know if those are available with MHs? I couldn't tell from the part I caught.

Catagory 5 is as high as the scale goes and I believe its substained winds above 155 .If you're in *any* structure with those kind of winds your odds of having it stay together are slim.Maybe if you built a bank vault in your home and you didn't drown in a storm surge you'd be OK but thats taking it to the extreme.Its this simple ,when a hurricane starts coming your way...LEAVE!!.You have plenty of warning from weather services.So many folks living in south florida are from the northeast and do not understand what a hurricane is.Threfore they stay in their homes and bare the brute of the storm. You go thru one major hurricane and you rarely stay around when the next one comes.

Geez...I did not know you were from CA...I would be far more worried about earthquakes than hurricanes...At least with hurricanes you get 48 hours or more warning...

Why is it that all really nice places to live have some sort of problem....just punishment for all that enjoyment..

A couple of updates that need to be covered....only 16 dead...very few in manufactured homes..eventhough the large majority of homes in this area are manufactured homes...

Better yet....inspectors announced yesterday all the substancially damaged manufactured homes were pre 1994 models...1994 is when the new hurricane..wind zone rules went into effect...There are few if any 1994 and newer homes with substancial damage..

The news media should be saying I am sorry..

Murray:
To the news media a trailor is a MH.Thats a stereo type thats hard to break.

Wind tests have been done on at least one manufactured home I am aware of and it passed with only minor damage after withstanding repeated blasts of hurricane force winds for longer periods of time.

The quality of construction is one thing to look at, as a home built with diagonal steel wall straps inside the walls is going to withstand high winds and earthquakes much better. Having siding glued and screwed to walls as well as a roof that is strapped to the walls makes a home much stronger. Most manufactured homes are also built with floor sheeting glued to the floor joists, as well as nailing them.

Compare the above to a lap vinyl siding site built home with no strapping at all and a roof that is only attached with a few nails holding it to the walls. Many site built homes are still built this way today. Which do you think is going to do better in a hurricane or earthquake?