Hurricanes

[Mike]

Can any tell me how M homes stand up to Tropical Storms? Does it make sense to board up windows before you evacuate?

[rmurray]

Yes...let us hope Ivan moves away from Florida..

[Chrissy Jackson]

It makes sense to take the same precautions with a manufactured home as you do with any other home. Documentation shows that the newer homes built to stronger wind zone codes and properly installed have come through Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances unscathed. The Florida Manufactured Housing Association (850-907-9111) has pictures and statistics.

[Mike]

We will find out in the coming days. We lost siding during the Frances and the wind was not that strong. I live in Clearwater and its a zoo around town, we will bail out of here tomorrow. I must work and the wife is heading NE. I will keed you up to date. We have a new Jacobson, like the construction, unsure about installation.

[David Oxhandler]

"When Hurricane Georges swept across south Florida's Cudjoe Key in 1998, it left thousands of demolished or severely damaged homes in its path. But not one manufactured home built to current ASCE standards was destroyed.


Some suffered cosmetic damage from other homes' flying debris, and awnings and some exterior sheathing were torn off by the winds, which reached a sustained speed of 120 mph. In addition, a six-foot storm surge washed away surface materials covering enclosures below the homes' main living levels. But thanks to properly installed piers and tiedowns, the structures held their ground.


It's worth noting that all of these homes stood within 1,500 feet of the coastline. Yet, because they were built to the nation's strictest wind-safety standard, every one of them weathered the storm."


Source Florida Manufactured Housing Association

[Mike]

What about recent storms, do you have updates? How can I check to find out if my home was properly set up? What shold I look for?

[David Oxhandler]

Clean up from Charlie and Francis, the most recent storms is still underway and the stats are being compiled. I live in Central Florida and can tell you that we have yet to see any serious damage to homes built to current standards.

There were virtually no building codes in effect for MH before 1976. The Department of Housing and Urban Development put some “loose” guidelines into effect.

In 1994, the HUD codes were updated and made much stricter. The Lumber used to build today's manufactured homes is much heavier gauge (thicker) and there’s a lot more of it. Roofs and walls are strapped down to the frame and have proven they can withstand higher winds then ever before..

If you live in an older home it is not possible to say how it might survive a hurricane.. Call in an engineer or professional building inspector to determine how “storm worthy” it might be.

[Mark]

If you've been watching the weather channel, you'd know. Virtually no MH's survived Frances, and they certainly won't survive a direct hit from Ivan. Many site built homes built between 1950 and 1998 also did not survive. Older homes were better built, newer homes were built after Andrew and the resulting increase in building codes, hurricane strapping, wind zones and penetration resistence for windows and doors.

The Saffir-Simpson scale considers a cat 2 storm to result in 'significant damage' to mobile homes. A cat 3 storm is considered to destroy mobile homes. Obviously, anything higher would result in the complete destruction of any mobile home. That's not to say that site built homes (see first paragraph) won't sustain damage, only that, side by side, a site built home would still have it's basic structure intact, whereas a mobile home wouldn't even be recognizable.

The home I am in is rated for 140 mph, which we'd only see from a *direct* hit by a cat 4 storm (I'm about 20 miles or more inland). I have no doubt that I'd probably loose every piece of siding on the home, but the basic structure should remain intact providing the windows aren't penetrated or a tree doesn't fall on it.

90% of the significant damage my parents home received in the last hit was from a tree falling on it and shearing off one end, the MH down the street only suffered a single broken window, also from a tree falling. It looks like Ivan is headed straight for us now, and I don't expect that MH to survive it.

You also have to keep in mind that, even though Ivan is a cat 4 storm (at the moment), those winds don't cover the entire storm, hurricane force winds only extend out about 90 miles from the center, tropical force winds (less than 75 mph) extend about 170 miles. If you are on the east side of the eye, then the impact will be even less.

So, the real question you have to ask is, how well is my MH built and tied down? Is the skirting strong enough to withstand the wind? Once you loose that underhome wind protection, the risk of loosing the home itself rises significantly.

[Daphne]

My only thought as Ivan approaches the Gulf Coast is, (Escambia County) Pensacola, FL. ....

Do I attempt to protect my home as much as possible (a 2000 model) or do I just let the son of a gun blow away, pay off the mortgage with the ins money and build a house on my property? The land is not considered in the mortgage... My skirting around the bottom has never fit properly... and we were nieve when the company set it up. I would never do this again!

[David Oxhandler]

Mark -

Where ever you are getting your informaiton, it is wrong. Our company owns 30 MHs in Central Florida and we took a direct hit from Francis. Each and every home survived Frances with little or no damage.