Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/60637
SERVICE & SET-UP Tornados and Us BYGEORGE PORTER A month ago there was a tornado outbreak in the Midwest and the news of the aftermath was a bit unusual. On a news channel in Tennessee the reporter was interviewing a victim who lived in a "sticks and bricks" home that had been destroyed. During the interview he pointed across the street to a manufactured home and said "Guess I should have had one of those; the anchors held it on the ground". Sure enough; the factory build home with the wheels and frame and all the bad press themedia couldmuster over the years took the hit and stayed put! Must be some sort of miracle!! Miraclemy foot!! These homes are very strong when they are done well. People need to know more about the real world and less about hype and rumor. The myth that these homes are not safe has got to be snuffed out somehow and we are the ones who should be doing it. When the news became a 24 hour TV show the entertainment value of what they said on the sta- tion became very important. There has to be blood, mayhem, and extreme corruption or you just don't have an entertaining news cast. The talking heads would much rather show a 50 year old trailer with its wheels in the air than a new home that has survived a tornado. Good news is boring and will not fill the advertising time for the "news show" The ratings might drop or some- thing. Pity! Thank goodness the media is not like normal people because the guy across the street was im- pressed with the manufactured home and will not be afraid to live in one of them. My friend BettyWhittaker at KentuckyManu- factured Housing Institute just happened to be in the area where the tornadoes were and saw first hand how our homes faired. In fact we gave a presentation to a large group of housing inspectors and they were surprised that these homes really do hold up. There are good reasons why they do. #1. Done right; in wind zone 1 a home will APRIL 2012 14 THE JOURNAL withstand 15 psf on the side of the home and 9psf uplift and be capable of a momentary overload of 50%. This is a HUD fact. #2. These pressures roughly equal a 75mph wind and a 50% increase is 112.5mph #3. 69% of all tornados have winds of less than 110 mph according to the US Weather Bu- reau. Hurricanes have sustained winds but tor- nadoes are pretty quick and that is where the 50% overload works well. When you get above an F-3 nobody is safe. One of the constant questionsMrs.Whittaker has been asked by the media is, "Would you stay in one of your houses if a tornado was coming?" Her answer is always no because she quickly adds that she wouldn't stay in any above ground structure with a tornado coming. She would get in a storm cellar; somewhere underground; maybe a concrete bunker or even a bomb shelter. Her answer is al- ways met with some sort of skepticism because the reporters think she is saying these homes are not safe. The reporters think this is a "gotcha" mo- ment. What it really means is that Betty has common sense and is not stupid. Of course you would go the very safest place you could get to. It should be noted that if your only choices are an old house and a new, properly installed manufac- tured home; you might want to be in the later. We must have hundreds of pictures of our homes with all the structures blown to bits around them and ours have a few broken windows and some messed up siding but are still in good shape. This is not new! This has been going on for years with examples all over the nation. These new homes are very storm resistant. One of the prob- lems is that the media wants a quote that all our homes are tornado proof. WOW! Who else do they ask this of? Frankly nobody with a responsi- ble bone in there body would give such a warranty on anything other thanmaybe a commercial storm shelter. Guess again! It may interest you to know that there are warranties on commercial storm shelters but NOT AGAINST A TORNADO!! They are guaranteed not to leak water. They have a warranty on the hinges on the doors. They have a long list of tests that they have passed but no one will put in writing that you will be safe in all tor- nadoes! Are you kidding? An f-5 tornado can suck a four lane asphalt highway right off the ground and make it disappear. I am pretty sure the military has some command bunkers under Rocky Mountains that are safe, but the rest of us have to work on getting to the safest place possi- ble. With the failing economy, more people out of work and notmuchmoney for homemaintenance; one of our homesmight be the safest place you can be in in many areas. Our homes are inspected at least once in the factory and are guaranteed to meet a fairly stringent building code. Not every- where these days has such an in-depth inspection or even the expertise of the inspectors available. The guys at the plant are well trained, they see more homes in one week than a local fellow may see in a six months; and they see them in every stage of construction as they go down the line. We need to start doing a little public relations about our homes because we most assuredly have a lot of very good things to talk about. TJ George Porter is a consultant to the manufactured housing industry. His Company is Manufactured Housing Resources, P.O. Box 9, Nassau, DE 19969, (302) 645 5552, Fax: (302) 645 1152, Web: www.george-porter.com. Some of his services are both in person andOn-line training for certification in many states plus expert witness and investigation for the in- dustry.