Mobile Homes Can Be Less Vulnerable To Wind
Mobile homes are typically hard hit by hurricanes or even moderately strong winds. Much of the damage can be avoided, says Elliot Schrank, extension associate in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis. Schrank, a licensed architect, says that poor design and manufacturing practices are largely responsible for mobile homes' vulnerability to wind. During high winds, windows in both manufactured (mobile) and stick-built homes can break, either directly from the winds or from flying branches and other objects. The rash of winds inside a home puts tremendous upward pressure on roofs, amplified by the fast flow of debris. A roof that isn't well anchored can be violently tom off, which in turn often causes the home to collapse. That was the pattern during Hurricane Andrew last summer, which felled entire tracts of homes on inland areas of Florida. Roofs of stick-built homes that had been attached to the frame with nails rather than staples Pared the best during the hurri