Who here lives in a mobile home (or "manufactured home&

[WeatherNole]

I'd like to hear your thoughts on how sturdy a home it is. The manufactured home industry has made significant improvements in these structures in the last decade (mainly because they were forced to after Andrew).
What kind of claims are made now regarding what kind of winds they can stand up to?
Is your homeowner's insurance premium reasonable in relation to the value of your home (versus that of a "brick and mortar home").
Do any sellers of manufactured homes actually claim that it's safe to stay in one during a hurricane?

I'm not trying to pick a side here, but I'd like to hear from those in the know.

Thanks,

Mike

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[Mattie]

Perhaps the shell is "sturdier" than the material it was formerly made of . . .but the shear (no pun intended) fact that they are usually above the ground with skirting lends itself to lots of wind and possible overturning.

Add that catastrophe to natural gas hook ups and electrical wires and I believe that is more than danger today. I'm sure you read the posts where someone said that the mobile homes that were newer made it through Charley. I dunno - I say find concrete shelter or evacuate . . .

We left fine sturdy brick homes in the wake of a few hurricanes because we didn't feel it safe. I would be surprised if there is documentation out there that says "test our sturdiness in a hurricane" - sort of like the old Samsonite commericals when they are tossing that luggage around . . .

[rockythehusky]

I was watching the news yesterday and a guy from Palm Harbor Homes which is a company that builds manufactured homes said that they withstand higher wind speeds than regular homes and mobile homes and that Charley didn't know down any of their homes they built and there was minor damage if any to them.

[NorthGaWeather]

It doesn't matter how sturdy they are in a Cat 4 hurricane or F-2 tornado they are gonna be destroyed.

[7635]

the people who sell m/h tell you we pull them at 55 mph down the road every day.thay say there built like site built homes and i seen a pic of a car on top of one to show how good there built.well we live in one and when we get a storm here we go get in the jeep.there some better than others but not like a site built home and this one is a 2002.

[Anonymous]

I am in a mobile home as well and the sticker in the master bedroom says it because it was manufactured for "zone2" (southeast coast). it is built under hurricane resistant quallity... 25 PSF horizontal and 15 PSF uplift it will withstand.... a hurricane resistand means I guess it should withstand a hurricane or weak F0-F1 tornado.

[7635]

I have seen that on this one but who wrote that the m/h people or the gov?mine is in the closet wonder why thay put it in there?

[SunnyThoughts]

When Hurricane Erin came through here in 1995, I lived in a 1993 double wide mobile home. Tie downs were every 8 ft, and 10 ft buried in the ground. We never even got a shake...while trees broke all around the property. A cat 1 border cat 2 in a mobile home equiped as mine was, sure ( this was 1 mile inland from the bay) Insurance premiums.. right at $900 yearly. Purchase price of the home i believe was about $50,000. Was on the higher scale as mobile homes went back then. In my opinon, anything over a cat 1...should not be ridden out in a mobile home, and if you live closer to the shoreline.. NO WAY should you chance it. Way too much to loose, much more than your home..homes can be replaced in time... your life and the lives of your family..never.

[GulfHills]

Mike, you might want to check out the topic ..Personal Punta Gorda report.....

Interesting post on mobile homes by "scogor"